Mr. Murray has twenty-eight years of experience in the surety bond business and construction industry. He spent ten years from 1975 to 1985 with The Guarantee of North America where he occupied various underwriting and managerial positions prior to becoming National Surety Vice President in 1981. From 1985 to 1992, he was Director and Chief Operating Officer at Alta Surety Company where he was responsible for both the underwriting and claims management processes for multimillion dollar construction projects in Canada, the United States and overseas.
Mr. Murray returned to The Guarantee Company of North America in 1992 as National Vice President within the Construction Consulting Group of the Company. In the latter capacity, he directed a multi-disciplinary team whose main objective was to provide support to contractors bonded by the Company. In 1995, Mr. Murray joined Tardif, Murray & Associates Inc. as Principal, providing his construction and surety experience to members of the construction, surety and financial community.
Mr. Murray has always adopted a hands-on approach to construction problems. He has negotiated the completion of large construction projects with the support of carefully selected construction and financial experts. He has also negotiated takeover agreements for sureties, claims for additional compensation for contractors, counterclaims from owners and claims from sub-contractors and suppliers. He has structured monitoring and financing arrangements for contractors to guarantee the completion of construction projects. Mr. Murray acted as formal mediator on multimillion dollar disputes that were successfully resolved even though the parties to the disputes held out little hope of success at the outset. He has also managed litigation on behalf of sureties and contractors.
Mr. Murray is one of the founders of the Surety Association of Canada of which he was Director, member of the National Surety Committee and Chair of the Quebec Regional Committee. He also was a member of the Contractual Practices and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees of the Quebec Construction Association, and Director of the Quebec Study and Research Centre for the Advancement of Construction. He is a member of the advisory committee of an engineering firm. He continues to be a member of various construction and surety associations in North America.
Mr. Murray’s formal education is in business and finance. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Sherbrooke, followed by an MBA from York University in Toronto where he had enrolled after having acquired work experience with a major heavy construction company based in Montreal. Mr. Murray has developed and delivered training sessions, conferences in construction and surety seminars and has published papers on related topics. He is an excellent communicator in both English and French.
You may reach Mr. Murray by email at 'murrays@tardifmurray.com' or by telephone at (514) 937-3150 ext. 238
