Canada: Hockey Coach Named as Conservative Senator

"I hope I can serve as an example to people who face a lot of struggles."

Demers was at an event with the prime minister Thursday, seated in the front row during a lunchtime announcement by Harper at Laval university.

He is the last man to coach a Canadian team to the Stanley Cup, a feat he achieved in his first year behind the Montreal Canadiens' bench in 1993.

He told interviewers that, as recently as 2005, he could only write his name and a few other words.

In November 2005, Demers released a biography, written by journalist Mario LeClerc, in which he revealed that he is functionally illiterate and had to hide it throughout his life.

CNews