| Dick Ruston | |
| Office1: | Ontario MPP |
| Term Start1: | 1975 |
| Term End1: | 1985 |
| Predecessor1: | New riding |
| Successor1: | Pat Hayes |
| Constituency1: | Essex North |
| Term Start2: | 1967 |
| Term End2: | 1975 |
| Predecessor2: | New riding |
| Successor2: | Riding abolished |
| Constituency2: | Essex—Kent |
| Party: | Liberal |
| Birth Date: | 28 August 1919 |
| Birth Place: | Essex County, Ontario |
| Death Place: | Essex County, Ontario |
| Spouse: | Shirley Ruston |
| Children: | 5 |
| Occupation: | Co-op Manager |
Richard Fletcher Ruston (August 28, 1919 – May 19, 2002) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1985, as a member of the Liberal Party.
Ruston was born in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, and educated in the area. He was manager of the Essex County Medical Co-op. He and his wife Shirley lived in Essex where they raised five children.[1]
Ruston was a councillor in Maidstone Township from 1960 to 1962, reeve of the community from 1963 to 1968, and an Essex County councillor.[1]
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1967 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Fred Cada by 991 votes.[2] He was re-elected in the 1971 election by roughly the same margin, and won with larger majorities in 1975,[3] 1977,[4] and 1981.[5] He served as Liberal Party whip for a period. The Progressive Conservative Party governed Ontario during this period, and Ruston was an opposition member for his legislative career. He was primarily a defender of farmer's interests.
Ruston announced that he would retire from the legislature in mid-1985, and was not a candidate in that year's provincial election.[6]
He died in 2002 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[7] Fellow MPP and friend Sean Conway described him as a follower of Ontario's Clear Grit tradition, and a believer that "the best government [...] is the smaller unit closest to the people".[8]