The Office of the Governor General announced Peter Murdoch’s appointment on December 26. Mr. Murdoch was a veteran Hudson’s Bay Co. clerk who helped start the co-op movement in Nunavik.
Murdoch is receiving the honour for “his contributions to the economic development of the northern regions of Quebec as a driving force behind the co-operative movement,” a Rideau Hall press release said.
Originally from Newfoundland, he moved to the arctic as a young man when he was hired by Hudson’s Bay Co. to work as a clerk in Kimmirut. He also worked in Cape Dorset, Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangirsuk, Puvirnituq and Kuujjuaq.
He went on to develop financial systems for co-ops that sprang up in Kuujjuaq, Kangirsuk, Kangiqsualujjuaq and other communities.
In 1967, the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec was founded and Murdoch became its first general manager, serving in that job until his retirement in 1997.
Murdoch will be inducted into the Order of Canada at a ceremony to be held at Rideau Hall some time in 2015.