Bognor Bill

I knew I wanted a front-row seat on [Bill’s] re-election campaign in 2003. The man was a local legend, and my journalistic curiosity naturally drove me to question how much of it was myth. To the outsiders, the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound was at times insignificant, but the Bognor native who represented it was not.

The only time I’ve seen MPP Murdoch pause reflectively was when he talked about the hardship, the work ethic, and the pride of his people at home. And that’s what he liked to call them: my people. I never doubted he had his people’s back. That was one part of his genius. He had Bruce and Grey born and bred in his bones and always had the pulse of his people’s needs and wants. The other part of his genius was that he truly listened to the people, albeit he didn’t always agree with them.