On behalf of Rear-Admiral (Ret’d) Senator Rebecca Patterson and Colonel (Ret’d) MP Alex Ruff, you are invited to:
The 13th Annual Sam Sharpe Breakfast
Tuesday, May 5 – 2026
7:30 a.m – 9:30 a.m EST.
Sir John A Macdonald Building
Room 100 – Parliament Hill
144 Wellington St., Ottawa, ON
Proudly
Sponsored by
About
The annual Sam Sharpe Breakfast brings together Parliamentarians from all parties, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Veterans, First Responders, mental health advocates, and friends from across Canada. Together, we gather to hear from impactful speakers and honour the service & sacrifice of those who keep our country & communities safe.
Bio
First elected to the House of Commons in 1908 and again in 1911, LCol Sam Sharpe was the sitting Member of Parliament for Ontario North at the start of WWI. He organized and raised the 116th Battalion (Ontario County), which he commanded during its operations in the field from February 1917 to December 1917. LCol Sharpe and his unit were held in reserve for the assault on Vimy Ridge and fought at Hill 70 and Passchendaele.
After suffering mental injuries at the front, he returned to Canada and died by suicide on 25 May, 1918, at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. His death saddened and shocked the residents of Uxbridge and Southern Ontario, where he was a well-known public figure and community leader. As MP John Currie, himself a Great War Veteran said in the House of Commons, “No finer comrade in arms could any man have than the late Colonel Sharpe” (17 March, 1919).