Burlington NDP candidate Andrew Drummond says the objective is an NDP majority government

By Ryan O’Dowd

October 5th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

Andrew Drummond is back as the New Democratic Party provincial candidate and he’s in the upcoming (June 2nd) election to win it.

After a successful 2018 campaign where Drummond captured over 28% of the vote, more than doubling his predecessor, Drummond says this is the first election he’s entering where the expectation is victory.

Andrew Drummond with a supporter

Bolstered by a substantially higher campaign budget after consistent gains made in the region and provincial trends Drummond has no doubt this will be a winnable election.

“Yes we can win this election, unequivocally yes,” Drummond said. “We showed in the last campaign the city treats the NDP as the second choice here and going into this election, we know that we’re going to be the choice of progressive people. Over and above the ambitious platform that we will be releasing, the policy papers we’ve already put out, when you get to the doors and talk to people, those ideas really resonate.”

Drummond has been working on the upcoming campaign since the 2018 election ended, breaking to manage two federal campaigns to keep the momentum going. In addition to Drummond’s impressive personal results, he managed both federal NDP candidates to incremental gains, including most recently Nick Page on a budget of $12,000, down from roughly $30,000 the previous election.

Drummond operated on a $35,000 budget in his last provincial outing, which was the largest Burlington  constituency budget ever.

Drummond will face off once again with incumbent Jane McKenna.

This time around Drummond is operating on a baseline budget of $80,000, one he suspects will grow. He estimates the budget he has to work with will allow the campaign to fully cover the riding with literature twice over and afford him the opportunity to personally interact with every voter at the door.

‘We have been targeting this election. This is our moment here. We are very prepared to fight this next election,” said Drummond.

Drummond’s confidence is riding high following a vote of support from provincial party leader Andrea Horwath who plans on campaigning in the area; she will be present or providing a recorded message when he is acclaimed as the NDP candidate later this month.

Drummond was born into a political household, to parents he calls “Red Tories” who tried to push the party to the left. As a young child Drummond spent days in playpens in campaign offices. Political campaigns used to excite Drummond as a 25-year-old knocking on doors but over time that excitement has been deflated by the weight of his responsibility.

“I’ve always been excited about it. I’ll be honest it gets a little less exciting the more you do it. It’s a lot harder when I know how important the things that we’re fighting for are. And the pressure to do well increases, especially now with this campaign,” said Drummond.

Although Drummond tempers his excitement with responsibility he leaves nothing wanting for passion. Drummond says time will tell if his work as a campaign manager made him a better candidate but he enjoys the work.

Drummond: loves going door to door

“I love going door to door, I love meeting people face to face. In-person communication is what I think I do best. It’s what I enjoy most about campaigning and I didn’t get to do as much of that as campaign manager,” he said.

Drummond listed several reasons for his optimism about improving from his last outing toward fulfilling the party goal, which Drummond says is an NDP majority.

Drummond was nominated with six weeks left before the last provincial election; this time he has eight months to campaign before ballots are cast June 2nd, 2022.

The NDP enters this provincial election as the official opposition for the first time since 1987, and voters know Drummond from 2018. He jokes that what people wanted in Ontario in the last election was a Progressive Conservative government led by Andrea Horwath, calling her by far the most popular candidate.

Drummond cites his accessibility as a big factor contrasted with both opponent’s historical hesitancy and with his previous limitations.

Drummond took six days off of work for the last provincial election, this time around he will be committed to campaigning for two months.

When asked if he was concerned about the provincial Liberal government bouncing back from their worst-ever showing in 2018 and siphoning progressive votes Drummond laughed.

“How could I possibly say ‘no’ to that question? But if you ask [Liberal candidate] Mariam Manaa she has the same concerns. People here recognize that we will be the alternative,’ said Drummond.

Drummond’s campaign puts quality of life as a top priority. Printed on his face mask are the words: “everyone deserves paid sick days”. He speaks  enthusiastically about worker’s rights, climate change, cost of living, and affordable housing. Drummond hesitated to boil down his campaign to a handful of specific issues saying there are paths to improve every area of life in the NDP platform.

“One of the things that I have learned in politics is that every single issue, every last thing that you ever talk about is more complex than it looks at first glance, there is a layer upon layer to every issue,” said Drummond.

When Drummond accepted the nomination last election he said he wasn’t angry with the status quo he was saddened by it. Drummond pointed to failings, inaction, and what he called deliberate choices to harm the most vulnerable, citing the province clawing back disability benefits for those on CERB as a recent example.

Leader of the Opposition Andrea Horwath

Drummond will be acclaimed for the nomination on October 21st. He believes Burlington has shown itself to be a progressive town and the moment is now for the NDP to capitalize on their momentum.

“It’s a mix between crushing and exciting. I know we’re getting close and I’m trying to figure out in my head how long until I can go door to door and start talking about provincial issues”.