hammond was chair of the hamilton tax reform movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and represented the concerns of mostly low-income residents who faced dramatic assessment increases. he was named chair of the communist party's central labour commission in 2004. hammond has written on various subjects for the party journal "people's voice", and has also served as its business manager. he cited vladimir lenin as his favourite historical communist in a 2006 interview, and named poundmaker, tommy douglas and norman bethune as his favourite canadians.