Alex Ruff (born 1974) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of

Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound (formerly known as Bruce, Bruce—Grey and Grey—Bruce—Owen Sound) is a federal electoral district that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. The riding has had a reputation of being a s ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 2019 federal election and re-elected in the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The writs of election were issued by Governor General Mary Simon on August 15, 2021, when Prime Minist ...

. He is a retired Colonel in the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

(CAF).

Background and education

Ruff grew up on a farm just outside of Tara, ON the eldest of five boys. He attended Arran-Tara Elementary School and Chesley District High School. Ruff graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1997 with an Honours degree in space science.

Military career

As an infantry officer within

The Royal Canadian Regiment , colors = , identification_symbol_2 = Maple Leaf (2nd Bn pipes and drums) , identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol_4 = The RCR , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation , mar ...

and throughout his 25-year career, Ruff was posted to

Garrison Petawawa Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army. Garrison facts The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ott ...

, Kingston, CFB Gagetown, Canadian Forces College in Toronto, and to Canadian Special Operations Forces Command headquarters and

Canadian Joint Operations Command The Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC; french: links=no, Commandement des opérations interarmées du Canada) is one of the two unified commands of the Canadian Armed Forces, the other one being the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command ...

both of which are in Ottawa. He had six operational deployments:

Operation Recuperation The North American Ice Storm of 1998 (also known as Great Ice Storm of 1998) was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms in January 1998 that struck a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec, N ...

(ice storm in eastern Ontario/western Quebec, 1998), twice as part of the

Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

- Operation Palladium (Bosnia, 1998–99 and 2001), twice on Operation Athena ( Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2007 and Kabul, Afghanistan in 2012) and most recently as part of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve ( Baghdad, Iraq in 2018-19). He retired from the CAF in early 2019.

Federal politics

In April 2019, Ruff won the Conservative nomination for the riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for the 2019 federal election following the retirement of Larry Miller. He was elected as a Member of Parliament on October 21, 2019. He was a member of th
Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs
from February to August 2020. On September 02, 2020, he was appointed to the Conservative Party House Leadership team by

Erin O’Toole Erin Michael O'Toole (born January 22, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Durham since 2012. A member of the Conservative Party, O'Toole served as the party's leader and the leader of the Official ...

as the Deputy Opposition Whip. He served in this role until November 2021. On September 20, 2021, he was re-elected as the MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. Since December 9th, 2021, he sits on the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilitie
(HUMA)
and since December 13th, 2021 he has been an member on the Special Committee on Afghanista
(AFGH)

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruff, Alex Living people Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Year of birth uncertain Royal Military College of Canada alumni Canadian military personnel from Ontario 1974 births People from Bruce County The Royal Canadian Regiment officers