Ernest Draffin

Ernest R. Draffin (1909 in Winnipeg, Manitoba – December 19, 1982) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1945 to 1949 as a member of the social-democratic Cooperative Commonwealth Federation.

Draffin was educated at Brooklands, Manitoba and at the Kiwanis Night School for Boys. He began working at Canadian National Telegraphs in 1925. Originally as a messenger, he later rose to the position of Chief Timekeeper. He was a member of the Commercial Telegraphers Union of America, and served on the provincial executive of the CCF. Draffin was also active in ice hockey and soccer.

He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1945 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate David Best by 180 votes in the suburban Winnipeg constituency of Assiniboia. He served as an opposition member in the legislature for the next four years.

The CCF suffered an electoral setback in the 1949 provincial election, and Draffin lost his seat to Liberal-Progressive candidate Reginald Wightman by 1,214 votes.

He campaigned in the St. Andrews constituency in the 1953 provincial election, but finished a poor third against Liberal-Progressive Thomas Hillhouse. In the 1958 election, he finished third in Fort Rouge against Progressive Conservative Gurney Evans.

Draffin ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1953 Canadian election, as a candidate of the federal Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. He finished third in Winnipeg South against Progressive Conservative Owen C. Trainor. He also campaigned for the Winnipeg City Council in the 1953 municipal election, but was defeated in the city's predominantly middle-class first ward.

Draffin was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 in recognition of his soccer playing abilities.