OTTAWA (Reuters) -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien bid a fond farewell on Thursday to a Parliament where he had fought for four decades, passionately if sometimes ineloquently, for working-class Canadians and a united Canada.

The rough-hewn Chretien first arrived on Parliament Hill in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was still U.S. president, and fellow members of Parliament paid tribute to him on Thursday as a devoted patriot, a masterful politician and a scrappy fighter.

"It's not easy to leave but every good thing must come to an end. It's a very emotional moment but it had to come. I arrived here 40 and a half years ago ... and now I'm leaving and I'm a bit sad," he told reporters after his final speech.

Ordinary Canadians, journalists, staffers, his wife, and his mentor from the 1960s, Mitchell Sharp, now 92, packed House of Commons galleries to see the man who could mangle both English and French but inspire the country in the process. "I will miss this House, these companions, these comrades, these people who come here to service their constituents and to make this country a better place," he said. "I came here and I learned what it's all about to be a Canadian."

Chretien plans to retire by February, after coming under increased pressure from supporters of rival Paul Martin, the former finance minister who is set to become the next leader of the ruling Liberal Party, and thus prime minister.