Drummond White

Drummond White (March 19, 1951 – November 25, 2022) was a politician in Ontario, Canada.

He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

White grew up in Oshawa, Ontario.

He graduated with an Honours BA (University of Toronto), a Bachelor in Social Work (BSW), a Master in Social Work (Wilfrid Laurier University), and a Research Diploma in Social Work (University of Toronto).

White is currently self-employed as a family counsellor and social worker.

His work emphasizes mediation and family assessment.

He is married to Norah Love and they have three adult children: Amanda, Devin, and Lenore.

White became involved in politics because he was concerned about the tax burden and the rising cost of raising a family.

He said, "Nothing is more important in terms of family values than having bread on the table."

White had been involved in social justice, cooperative and political campaigns since high school.

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1990 provincial election, defeating incumbent Liberal Allan Furlong and Progressive Conservative Jim Flaherty by over 2,000 votes in the Greater Toronto Area riding of Durham Centre.

The NDP won a majority in this election and White served as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs on two occasions between 1992 and 1995.

White dealt especially with the Office of the Greater Toronto Area and participated in the creation of the Waterfront Trail.

Drummond White also drove the reforms to the Municipal and Planning Acts through provincial parliament.

In 1992, White and fellow Durham MPP Jim Wiseman became involved in a minor controversy when it was found they were billing taxpayers for the cost of renting a shared apartment in Toronto.

He claimed that working long hours as an MPP justified his need for the apartment.

Due to the publicity, he and Wiseman ended the lease in August 1992.

In December 1992, White moved a resolution advocating the creation of a regulating body for social workers in Ontario.

At the time, Ontario was the only province that did not have a regulating body for social workers.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Social Services said that legislation for social work was a low priority.

In February 1994, White was charged with common assault.

As a result of the charges he resigned from the NDP caucus and also from his role as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

He sat as an Independent member until his case was resolved.

In March 1994, a judge dismissed the charge against White.

It turned out that he had confronted his 14-year-old daughter over cigarettes and tried to search her jacket.

A tug of war ensued which led to the assault charge.

The judge, John Payne said, "There was an indirect use of force which could be construed as an assault, but there was no physical assault."

The incident was reported at school the next day which was why the charge was laid.

"Mr. White was concerned about his daughter smoking," said Mr. Payne.

"He acted like any concerned parent would."

Shortly after the trial, White returned to the NDP caucus and his role as assistant to Minister of Municipal Affairs.

In the 1995 provincial election, White was defeated in his bid for re-election, finishing third against Conservative Jim Flaherty and Liberal Allan Furlong.

After leaving politics, White returned to his profession as a social worker.

In 1996 he served as co-chair to the Durham Region Coalition for Social Justice which sought to prevent the Harris government from reducing social services.

He also participated in other Durham advocacy groups such as Save Our Schools and Save Our Shores.

He joined the board of the Canadian Association of Social Workers.

While he was not successful in getting a bill passed during his time as MPP, a similar bill called the Social Work and Social Service Work Act was enacted in 1998.

Drummond was the final witness and speaker before the legislative committee that dealt with the bill and was pleased when this legislation was finally enacted.

In 2005, he was chosen as the Ontario recipient of the Canadian Association of Social Workers' Distinguished Service Award.

In 2008, he was elected Secretary-Treasurer.