He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1993; later taught humanities and history for 12 years at the Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles and was the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Quebec from 2009 to 2017.

He also stood with Chief Gary Potts and the Teme-Augama Anishnabai people in their 60-year legal battle to claim their lands in Temagami.

This east-central Ontario seat was not regarded as winnable – indeed, no NDP candidate in the riding had ever finished higher than third place, behind the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives.

Drainville emerged as an ally of Peter Kormos in the NDP caucus, and frequently opposed the policies of the Rae government from a left-wing perspective.

[10] He finished a distant fourth against Liberal John O'Reilly in the federal Victoria—Haliburton riding, though he did outpoll the official NDP candidate by over a thousand votes.

Drainville was elected to the City Council of the Ville de Percé for two four year terms representing sector 7 of that municipality from 1994 to 2002.

Ordained in 1982 to the diaconate and 1983 to the priesthood, Drainville served as the priest of Land O’Lakes parish in the Diocese of Ontario and as executive director of STOP 103, a non profit multi-service agency responding to the needs of the poor and marginalized in the downtown core of Toronto.

Drainville began teaching in the CEGEP system in September 1994 at the College de la Gaspésie et des Îles.