Bruce Smith is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1995 to 1999.

Background

Smith has a diploma in Urban Design from

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it has campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodstock w ...

, a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

, and a degree in Public Administration from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. He worked as a senior planner in the city of

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

after graduating, and was also a planner in the neighbouring township of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. He also served as president of the Middlesex Progressive Conservative Association.

Politics

Smith was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election in the riding of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, defeating

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Doug Reycraft and incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

Irene Mathyssen Irene R. Mathyssen (born August 16, 1951) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 2006 until 2019. She was previously a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario ...

. Smith served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

supporter of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

's government for the next four years. He ran for re-election in the redistributed riding of

Elgin—Middlesex—London Elgin—Middlesex—London is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. It was created in 1996 from Elgin—Norfolk, Lambton—Middlesex, and London—Middlesex r ...

in the 1999 election. He lost to

Steve Peters by just over 1,000 votes. He ran against Peters again in the 2003 election but lost by over 11,000 votes.

Later life

He is currently chair of the Fanshawe College Board of Governors. Smith endorsed

Frank Klees Frank Klees (born March 6, 1951) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014. He was a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Erni ...

for the leadership of the Ontario PC Party in 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bruce Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Living people Politicians from London, Ontario University of Western Ontario alumni University of Waterloo alumni Fanshawe College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)

Background

Politics

Later life

See also

References

External links