On the first ballot, retired Colonel Alex Ruff had over twice the votes of his nearest competitor in the race to be the Conservative candidate for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound in this October's federal election.  On the third ballot, three hours after the voting ended, Ruff was declared the winner.

After a twenty-five year career in the Canadian military with deployments aross Canada and overseas, 45 year old Ruff says being a member of parliament is another way of serving his country. Now that the nomination process is over, he says, it is time to talk to the party and study policy. The Tara native  expressed gratitude to Larry Miller, Bill Walker and his predecessor Bill Murdoch, but says he cannot be them, "I have to be Alex Ruff and earn the respect of the people of this riding." 

When asked whether the Conservatives have any concerns about holding on to the riding,  Ruff says he is taking nothing for granted."The person who works the hardest will win. That's the way it works."

With seven candidates selling memberships for the past three months, the BGOS Conservative Party of Canada membership had grown to 2780 eligible voters.  66 percent of them cast their ballots Monday for the five candidates on the ranked ballot.