NDP candidate Andrew Drummond expects to win this election in Burlington

By Jason Octavo

May 13th 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The race for the provincial seat in Burlington is being hotly contested.

Andrew Drummond, who has been the NDP candidate for the last three provincial elections, believes that based on the last election results (he got 29% of the vote) he is the man to beat this time out.

Andrew spent his childhood in Kingston where he attended high school and went on to earn a degree in history at University of Waterloo.

Door to door – harvesting votes

He is currently the product manager for Rogers Cable where he markets the business product coast-to-coast. He is responsible for ensuring distribution and sales to small and medium businesses that want a basic cable internet solution.

Realizing that Drummond is now in fill election mode he said that Burlington needs the NDP a strong community voice. “I think local representation really matters,” said Drummond. “We need someone who’s going to both stand up for Burlington at the government table and get the things that Burlington needs.”

Jane McKenna, the current MPP, has decided to run for the Regional Chair. Drummond pulled in a strong 29th against the Progressive Conservative candidate.

Andrew got 29% of the votes four years ago. This time, he has high hopes that he will win this election. “The candidate for a riding should be the best available for the job. “To be perfectly honest, the way things are going here we expect to win this one.”

Drummond loves going door to door and meeting people face to face. “It’s the best way to have a conversation,” said Drummond. “The only way you’re going to understand what people are actually worried about in this community is if you go and talk to them.”

Drummond was born into a political household. His parents managed Flora McDonald’s campaigns in Kingston. He grew up spending days in playpens in campaign offices. Starting from the 1999 provincial election, he grew into thinking about the NDP. And then in 2006, he was certain this was the party that really represented him and the people’s values of Ontario.

Spencer Smith Park is photo op central for the political set.

For the last four years, his message in the articles he has written is to highlight things that often fall under the radar. A good example of this is a piece he wrote about Woman’s Place. He had attended their Gala. However, after he looked at their financial records, he learned that government funding was going down, and they needed to hire private professional fundraisers in order to make up that gap. He wanted to make sure that people, especially women fleeing abusive relationships are properly protected.

Running as NDP, Andrew finds his biggest struggle is the split between federal and provincial branches.

In order to improve his chances in winning this year’s election, he started working the day after the election he lost. “When I lost that election, I realized if I have the time, the effort and the money to do this, I can win this riding and I’ve spent the last four years talking to people setting up events, writing articles, meeting with community groups advocating for different causes, and most importantly, building the team and getting the fund raising in place – very necessary to run a proper campaign,” said Drummond.

We’ll find out if the NDP is going to get those votes on Election Day.

NDP candidate Andrew Drummond expects to win this election in Burlington