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Revision as of 17:27, 13 May 2009

Dr. Ryan Meili is a medical doctor and community organizer who is currently running for the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.

Meili currently works as a rural relief locum giving doctors in small communities time off. When not working in rural Saskatchewan, he lives in Saskatoon’s core community of Riversdale.

Early Life and Education

Ryan grew up on a family farm near Courval, Saskatchewan, land which is still farmed by his brother. He attended Vanier Collegiate in Moose Jaw before going on to the University of Saskatchewan where he studied Human Anatomy and Languages.

After finishing his first degree, Ryan travelled to South America to experience life in the developing world. In 1999 he co-organized a project called Limbs and Light for Latin America, raising money to purchase a school bus which he then filled with prosthetic limbs for landmine victims and drove to Nicaragua.

Medical Training

Ryan entered the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in September 2000 and graduated in 2004. He completed his residency at the Westwinds Primary Health Centre in Saskatoon in June of 2007.

Advocacy and Community Organizing

While in medical school, he became involved in health care advocacy. At the time of the Romanow Commission, he helped found a student group called Health Professionals for Medicare dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of a single-payer, publicly funded health care system. He remains passionate about this issue and is presently the Saskatchewan board member for Canadian Doctors for Medicare.

Ryan also works for the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. As the chair of the Social Accountability Committee, he’s responsible for helping ensure that Saskatchewan’s future doctors are equipped to meet the health needs of the diverse communities they will serve. Among Ryan’s focuses are aboriginal, international, rural, and inner-city health.

Ryan is perhaps best known for his role as a co-founder of SWITCH, the Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community Health. Ryan helped spearhead this student-run, interdisciplinary, inner-city clinic, whose mandate is to bring students from nursing, medicine, social work, physiotherapy, pharmacy, nutrition, and numerous other disciplines together to serve the residents of Saskatoon’s core communities. Ryan was also the clinic’s first coordinator, and continues to work there as a supervising doctor.

Campaign for the Leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP

Dr. Meili the race for the leadership of Saskatchewan's NDP party on February 5, 2009. He is the fourth and final declared candidate joining former Deputy Premier Dwain Lingenfelter; current MLA Deb Higgins and former party president, Yens Pedersen. Meili is running on a platform of party renewal: "Meili said he hopes his entry into the race helps revive the NDP. "If the NDP is allowed to die, only to be resuscitated every 20 years . . . then we’re not building a healthy society,” he told about a dozen supporters." His policies place him firmly in the progressive wing of the party.

Endorsements

• David Forbes - sitting MLA, currently Opposition critic for Social Services, Disabilities, Housing, and the CBO Sector
• Nettie Wiebe - former National Farmer's Union President, Federal NDP candidate and third-place finisher in 2001 provincial NDP leadership race.
• Peter Prebble, former Provincial Cabinet Minister
• Lon Borgerson, former Provincial Cabinet Minister
• Maynard Sontag, former Provincial Cabinet Minister

The media recently reported Sontag faced controversy over memberships sold in the Meadow Lake area during the 2001 leadership race. A similiar controversy has occured in regards to 2009 leadership candidate Dwain Lingenfelter.

• Dion Tchorzewski, Regina attorney, son of former Cabinet Minister Ed Tchorzewski

...plus a variety of other individuals representing a wide range of areas across society.

Awards

• 2007 - named Saskatoon’s Global Citizen of the Year by the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation.
• 2006 - Saskatchewan Health Care Excellence Award
• 2004 - Dr. G. Ernest McBrien Award for the highest standing in his Family Medicine clerkship.

External Links

• Meili's Campaign Web Site
• "The Extra Mile - an article Meili wrote for Canadian Family Physician magazine while completing his medical residency in Saskatoon

References

1. Ryan Meili officially enters NDP leadership race http://www.thestarphoenix.com/News/Ryan+Meili+officially+enters+leadership+race/1257063/story.html
2. [http://www.thestarphoenix.com/News/Ryan+Meili+officially+enters+leadership+race/1257063/story.html Saskatoon Star Phoenix, February 5, 2009
3. http://www.ryanmeili.ca/endorse
4. http://www.ryanmeili.ca/endorse
5. http://www.ryanmeili.ca/endorse
6. http://www.ryanmeili.ca/endorse
7. http://www.meadowlakeprogress.com/PrintArticle.aspx?e=1557828
8. NDP probe: hard to see positive outcome http://www.leaderpost.com/news/probe+hard+positive+outcome/1591012/story.html
9. http://www.ryanmeili.ca/endorse
10. http://www.ryanmeili.ca/endorse

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