By Pepper Parr
June 5th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Thursday was not a good day for Andrew Drummond.
His third campaign to become the representative for Burlington in the provincial legislature didn’t work out the way he had hoped.
Drummond had the best funding he has ever had plus a bigger team to knock on doors – the wind he needed was never in his sails.
He started the campaign with better funding than he has ever had. The NDP saw Burlington as a seat that could be won.
Drummond said the NDP had identified 6000 people who would vote for them
The Burlington NDP organization got the best results in all of Halton. And Drummond is fervent in his belief that if there is going to be an NDP seat in the region it will be in Burlington.
The days immediately after an election that was lost are not the hardest – those are yet to come. Today Drummond talks about an organization with 100 formal members that he believes can be built to 200 and that in the months and years ahead Burlington will see the NDP protesting on street corners and in front of city hall.
There are important issues said Drummond who lists them: Daycare funding, environmental issues, climate change, better job prospects, Women’s Place, Urban boundaries – he has more.
Ever the campaigner – Andrew Drummond was out every day – but the New Democrats didn’t have enough traction at the provincial level to give him the room to grow his campaign.
He plans on more meetings for the local NDP association and expects to be able to partner with other groups on their issues.
Drummond explains that people were Ok with the job Doug Ford did on the COVID 19 issue – the other serious issues just didn’t get the traction they needed. He added that provincially, the NDP campaign just never did really take off.
Which leads Drummond to the forthcoming leadership campaign. At this point his voice changes – some excitement comes back – “There are some stars in caucus; there are bright lights that will begin to shine” he explains. Expect Drummond to be up to his ears in the leadership campaign – but isn’t prepared to say if there is a candidate that he likes the look of.
Will he run again in 2026 – four years is a long, long, long time in the world of politics – but a guess would be – he will run again.
What can we expect from the new government we asked? Drummond does not subscribe to the view that Doug Ford is a changed man. “He is there to help his buddies make a lot of money” adding that parts of Burlington are at serious risk.
The 407-Dundas urban divide is at risk. Drummond believes that the owners of most of the property that is immediately north of that roadway – 407 and Dundas, will end up being developed with the Ford government that will be sworn in soon.
Andrew Drummond ran a good campaign, and he is a decent, sincere and very credible candidate. He campaigned hard, and he has nothing to reproach himself for.
The problem in Burlington wasn’t the candidate. The problem is his Party. Andrea Horwath’s style wears really thin, really fast. She comes across as shrill and annoying at the same. Voters are tired of being infantalized and spoken down to like recalcitrant 3-year olds. For the most part, the NDP’s policies represent more government control and regulation at a time when voters want more personal decision-making and control over their lives. The Party continually tells voters what they will implement with no details on how they will pay for it, what services they will cut, or how they will reduce costs.
The NDP are overtly controlled by public sector unions. Most of their major leadership contenders (e.g. Fife, Stiles, French, Salter) all came out of the education sector. Even private sector unions like Unifor are fed up with the NDP’s WOKE messaging, critical race theory and overt fixation on EDI. If the Party ever expects to re-gain power in this province they need to formulate policies that are both realistic and have broader appeal. They also need a leader who isn’t beholden to CUPE and the teachers’ unions.
Andrew Drummond was a very worthy, solid and credible candidate. He ran a decent campaign, and has nothing to reproach himself for. Sadly, the Party he represents is another story entirely.
Can’t wait to see which creatures from the Dark Lagoon will be running to succeed Andrea Horwath. Hopefully, there will be at least one sensible member of their NDP provincial caucus (e.g. Michael Mantha, Gilles Bisson, Frances Gelinas) running for the leadership. Unfortunately, I suspect we’ll get saddled with another WOKE public sector union organizer turned former school Board Chair assuming the mantle of power.
The NDP really need to hit the “Erase” button rather than “Replay”.
Development is needed regardless of who is in power, elected as Regional Chair etc with current federal immigration levels
And that development would be a slam dunk if the current MPP wins the Regional Chair seat. As an astute citizen has noted, this could be the plan by the Ford gang to further ease their way on key ‘thank you’ developments all around the province.