Bill Murdoch (born January 10, 1945 in Meaford , Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1990, and represents the riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for the Progressive Conservative Party.

Murdoch was educated at the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute , and subsequently worked as a farmer, electrical draftsman, film stripper and salesman (also becoming a freemason and a member of the Royal Canadian Legion). He served as chair of the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority for five years.

Murdoch began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a councillor in Sydenham township for four years and as the community's reeve for a further eight. He was elected warden of Grey County in 1987. Murdoch served as vice-president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario for two years, and was a member of the board of directors for five years.

Murdoch's first bid to enter the Ontario legislature was unsuccessful. He ran as a Tory in the riding of Grey in the Ontario general election of 1987, in which the Liberals under David Peterson won a landslide majority; Murdoch lost to Liberal Ron Lipsett by about 2000 votes. The Liberals saw their support base collapse during the 1990 election, however, and Murdoch was able to win the seat on his second attempt (defeating New Democrat Peggy Hutchinson by about 2500 votes; Lipsett was third).

Murdoch was easily re-elected in the provincial elections of 1995 and 1999, both of which were won by the Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris. He developed a reputation as a party maverick during this period, and was never seriously considered for a cabinet appointment.

Murdoch's political philosophy is somewhat eccentric, and defies any easy summarization. Although a rural populist and supporter of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance, Murdoch is also an admirer of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Louis Riel. He has never been afraid to criticize his own party, whether in government or opposition -- he opposed the Harris government's decision to cancel the province's spring bear hunt, and claims that he was once fired from a parliamentary assistant position by calling for more free votes. He is also known as one of the most socially conservative members of the Ontario assembly, and one occasion threatened to block unanimous consent from being given for a same-sex benefits bill brought forward by the Harris government.

Murdoch's riding includes the town of Walkerton, which suffered from a deadly outbreak of e-coli in its water system in 2000. He was criticized by some for dismissing that possibility that his government's cutbacks could have been partly responsible for the outbreak.

The Progressive Conservatives lost the 2003 election, although Murdoch was re-elected in his own riding. Immediately after the election, he shocked many of his colleagues by openly musing about sitting with the social democratic NDP -- not for ideological reasons, but to ensure that the party received official status in the legislature (thereby maintaining the province's three-party system). The possibility was seriously considered by both Murdoch and NDP leader Howard Hampton, but ultimately came to nothing; the NDP subsequently won a by-election, and retained official party status on their own.

Murdoch supported Frank Klees's unsuccessful bid for the party leadership in 2004.