Man killed in QEW crash was former RCMP officer, protected Trudeau and Mulroney

By News Staff

When Bill Jeffery passed away on Monday from injuries suffered during a multi-vehicle crash on the QEW last week, not only did a family lose a husband and a father but the country lost a long-time public servant.

Jeffery’s brother John called him the the glue that kept the family together.

“My brother was an unbelievable husband, father and grandfather. There was five siblings growing up and Bill was always the bridge, the glue. He had a pure heart,” he told CityNews in an email.

But it wasn’t just the family Jeffery kept safe, but Prime Ministers and former heads of state.

Jeffery raised to the ranks of Corporal in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and during those years worked as protection for three Prime Ministers.

“During his time at the RCMP, Bill worked in a number of different units. I remember when he worked in VIP Security, he performed protection detail at various times for Prime Ministers [Pierre] Trudeau, [John] Turner and [Brian] Mulroney,” his brother recalled.

“He worked with Foreign Dignitaries during the G7 in Toronto in the late eighties and also provided protection for many other notables.”

Described as ‘modest’, Jeffery’s brother said his brother wasn’t one for attention and would often tell family to just say he worked for the ‘federal government’.

“My brother was a modest man, he was fun but in a subtle way, I don’t know if he would be happy with a family member babbling on about him. He wouldn’t believe he deserved that kind of attention,” he said.

When Jeffery retired from the RCMP his service to the country didn’t end. He went to work with Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and was often a consultant for sections of the federal government.

Jeffery’s brother says often times the family would sit around the dinner table and passionately debate politics and international issues.

“Bill was an information and news junkie as are we all. The five siblings filled the ideological political spectrum which always resulted in lively debate.”

“Thursday changed that forever.”

Jeffery was 64 at the time of the crash. His daughter Laura and her two children were in the car with him. They survived the crash.

No charges have been laid in the crash. The investigation is ongoing.

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