​PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

​2006 –2024:
​International development, public affairs & communications consultant. ​​

​​
1998 –2006: 
​Political & communications advisor to federal Canadian cabinet ministers​​.

Advocacy & Development
Imagine1day International

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​​Vancouver-based international development organization providing access to education in rural Ethiopia​.  https://imagine1day.org/

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- Public affairs, stakeholder engagement.
​​​-​​ Developed government relations program, liaised with Global Affairs Canada.
- Collaborated on corporate communications, edited Annual Report.
- ​​Advised on​ fundraising and development initiatives.

Chief Parliamentary Liaison (Hanoi, Vietnam)
One-year contract with the Policy Implementation Assistance Project (PIAP) 
(Parliamentary development project with the Canadian International Development Agency). Please see - https://w05.international.gc.ca/projectbrowser-banqueprojets/project-projet/details/a032700001​​
- Liaised daily with Viet Nam’s National Assembly, (particularly with Committee Chairs and Members of the Law and Justice committees).
- Helped to provide high-level technical assistance directly supporting the formulation of new laws and policies, and support to build knowledge and skills (including policy analysis and gender mainstreaming) for the Law, Judicial, and Social Affairs Committees of the National Assembly and their staff, enabling better legislative review and oversight.
​- P
lanned, produced, oversaw high-level capacity-building workshops and training sessions for Vietnamese Members of Parliament and senior officials of the Vietnamese government. 
- Developed work plans in co-operation with senior government officials, used results-based management tools to report on results of workshops, used feedback to plan and improve.
Communications and public affairs advisor 
Panama City, Panamá

CASCADE CONSULTANTS S.A. 


Public affairs and communications related to 3 large civil engineering and infrastructure projects ​ - a new Water Management System to manage water resources and mitigate the effects of climate change affecting the Panama Canal; the design of a tunnel for Metro Panama; the design and construction of a large hydro project near the Costa Rican border). 
Advocacy Advisor, 
​United Nations Association of Canada
- www.unac.org
​(2 separate one-year contracts)
- Served as spokesperson, managed communications, media and social media for projects.​ ​(Click for video clip).
​- Organized large-scale events, capacity-development seminars, government conferences, round-tables. 
- Secured government and private funding, handled donour relations.
curriculum vitae​
SEAN PATRICK MURDOCK​

Please click to down​load in PDF

1998 – 2006

Political & Parliamentary communications advisor to federal Canadian cabinet ministers

Parliamentary Affairs ​Advisor
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
- The Hon.. Irwin Cotler
Office of the Parliamentary Secretary​  
- The Hon.  Paul Macklin

​​​-Served as liaison to Minister's office for members of the House of Commons and Senate Standing Committees on Justice, Human Rights and National Security.
- Worked closely with Opposition MPs and the Prime Minister’s Office, to help advance the Minister’s (and Justice Canada’s) parliamentary agenda.
​​- Helped to introduce and pass legislative initiatives, including new laws to protect children and those most vulnerable insociety, including the elderly and the mentally-challenged. Worked closely with parliamentary committees on laws to combat human trafficking and fight violence against sex-trade workers.

Please see:​
- Bill C-2, an Act to better protect children and other vulnerable persons 
Bill C-6:  Established the Department of Public Safetyand Emergency Preparedness​
- Bill C-49: Combat human-smuggling and the trafficking in persons​
​- Civil Marriage Act 

Chief of Staff
Office of the Secretary of State for Sport and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
​- The Hon. Paul deVillers

- Managed a team of political advisors and oversaw the work of a federal department. Assigned work loads, authorized all activities and expenses for ministerial staff and operations.
- Joined Canada's official delegation to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games.​

Parliamentary Communications Advisor
​Office of the Minister of National Revenue - The Hon. Herb Dhaliwal
Office of the Minister of Fisheries & Oceans

​- Developed Minister's political communications strategy aimed at reaching various stakeholders through specially-targeted approaches (voters, local media, special interest groups and industry).
- Produced and disseminated communications materials for external audiences (news releases, press kits, fact sheets, newsletters, and political messaging to constituency).
- Created and maintained Minister's website - formerly www.herbdhaliwal.com.
- Created a ​a digital/online communications strategy (based on the website platform and internal databases that I managed) , to tie-in new developments, special events,  breaking news, etc.  with target e-mail list subscribers and media sources.
- ​Directed Minister's communications efforts: developing talking points, preparing for interviews with media and television appearances in constituency, liaising with other government  officials  and their staff to ensure consistent and reliable messaging.

• Represented Elections Canada in multiple federal elections, (Poll Supervisor, DRO).
• Elections Ontario’s Community Liaison for Ottawa West Nepean, 2025 (6-week contract)
• Elections Montreal, (2025), poll supervisor for borough of Notre-Dame-de-Grace
• Worked on behalf of candidates in over twenty federal, provincial, municipal campaigns since 1984
• Communications, Campaign Chair – 2004 federal election nomination campaign, Ottawa, ON
• Communications Chair, 2003 Ontario provincial election, Orleans, ON
• Media & Communications Director - 2000 federal election campaign, Vancouver, BC
• Member of ‘Communications and Co-ordination Council’ for Vancouver-area Liberal candidates, 2000
• Campaign Co-Chair - 1997 federal election campaign, Okanagan Coquihalla, BC.
​​spamurdock​@​gmail.com
+1 (514) 242-7506​

​• 20+ years developing, managing and delivering advocacy, media and public affairs campaigns.
​• 4 years as a public affairs and communications consultant for large-scale public-works projects. (Panamá)
• ​8 years as political and communications advisor to federal ministers and Members of Parliament. (Canada)
​•​ 7 years ​with international development (ODA) projects, (Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America).
• 2 years as advocacy consultant to the United Nations Association of Canada.
​​• Represented national NGOs and non-profit associations as spokesperson and media officer.

• Refined public speaking skills. Native fluency in English and French. High proficiency in ​Spanish.
Chief Liaison to the Chair of  National Liberal Caucus
-Served as chief liaison and contact point for over 250 Members of Parliament and Senators with the National Caucus Chair and the Prime Minister's Office.
​-Helped to brief parliamentarians on government-sponsored legislation, including post-9/11 Anti-Terrorism laws, as well as initiatives to safeguard human rights and civil liberties.
- Liaised with communications and policy personnel with National Research Bureau, ​to help craft political messaging for MPs and their staff.

Long-Term Election Observer (Parliamentary elections) – Lviv, Ukraine
(Two-month contract with Government of Canada). www.canadem.ca/home
- Press relations, media monitoring, served as team spokesperson (click to see video)
- Monitored and evaluated democratic conditions, wrote field reports.​


​Election Observer (Presidential elections), Kharkiv, Ukraine​
- Monitored, evaluated ​and observed election infrastructure and technical  processes, visited various polling places, observed and affirmed the counting of ballots, reported findings.

Media & Communications Specialist - United Nations Development Program, Tbilisi, Georgia ​
 (2 separate SSA contracts)
- Advised the President’s Press Office on modernizing and refining political communications and media relations.
​(First contract was to evaluate and devise a plan for reform, second mission 
was to implement my recommendations).
- Consulted with major national (Georgian) press organizations to evaluate needs, implement capacity-building plans, adopt new techniques to refine operations and improve media relations.
- Organized capacity-building workshops for Press Office staff - transparency and improving media relations.
- Authored two UNDP media and communications mission reports:
“Reporting Progress: Maximizing Opportunities in the President’s Press Office”,
“Implementing Progress: Clarity, Order and Structure in the President’s Press Office”

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
​and ELECTION COMISSION WORK within CANADA
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