Jody Wilson-Raybould’s father, Bill Wilson, says he was filled with pride watching his daughter's dramatic performance before the Justice Committee in Ottawa on Wednesday.
"It was very inspiring. I was particularly impressed by Jody's presence, but more importantly, her preparedness," Wilson told CTV News Friday.
During her bombshell testimony, the former attorney-general alleged she was repeatedly and inappropriately pressured by the Prime Minister and his team to spare Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin from a criminal trial.
Wilson credits his daughter’s performance on lessons she learned from her mother and grandmother.
“I’m incredibly impressed, but I’m not surprised. I mean she was trained by my mother and her mother to be strong," he said.
Wilson-Raybould grew up on Vancouver Island. Her father still lives in Campbell River. He himself sparred with a Trudeau back in 1983 at a constitutional conference on Indigenous issues.
At the time, he told Pierre Elliott Trudeau: "I have two children on Vancouver island, both of whom say for some misguided reason they want to be a lawyer, both of whom want to be Prime Minister."
The current Prime Minister’s father replied, "Tell them I’ll stick around until they're ready," to which Wilson retorted: “I’m informed by the government of British Columbia that one of them could be out here on a plane this evening.”
A quarter of a century later, Wilson says he wouldn’t be shocked if, one day, his comments proved to be prophetic.
"If you got into a job, wouldn’t you want to be the best? That’s how she was trained," he said.
Regardless of how this scandal and his daughter’s political fortunes unfold, Wilson says she has stayed true to her roots.
"So here you have a beautiful talented native woman, standing up to protect your law."
