Welcome

Hello and welcome to ryanmeili.ca.

This page was established for the Saskatchewan NDP leadership campaign which ended June 6, 2009.

The final result was that Dwain Lingenfelter is the new leader of the NDP, winning 55% of the vote on the second ballot. I offer him my congratulations and support as leader of the party. I also would like to extend sincere congratulations to Deb Higgins and Yens Pedersen for their remarkable efforts as candidates. I have learned a great deal through this process, and much of that learning has been from my fellow candidates.

This campaign has been about more than one leadership race. It is evidence of a growing appetite for a different way of doing politics.

I am extremely proud of the work we have done. What started out as a children’s crusade w/ a no-name candidate and a handful of people in my living room, grew into 100s of volunteers, 100s of donors, 1000s of supporters and 45% of the vote on the final ballot. Our ragtag insurgency became widely recognized as the most organized and effective campaign.

Thank you to all of you who contributed to this campaign. I have said over and over that the NDP needs to excite and inspire people once again. You have excited and inspired me and each other. You have turned heads throughout the province. Well done!

The leadership race is over, but the work to rebuild the NDP has just begun.

I will run for a nomination for the 2011 provincial election. I also hope to have a significant influence on the development of party policy and on ensuring a democratic process for that development.

As a party, we need to maintain contact with our supporters and continue the growing momentum. Many people have been inspired to join the party or become more involved as a result of this process. I hope to continue to bring people together, connect social movements to electoral politics, discuss the key issues facing the people of our province, and collect the great ideas that can help us to confront our challenges and embrace our opportunities.

We can rebuild and renew the party that brought us rural electrification, labour standards, the Saskatchewan Bill of Rights and Medicare to address the new challenges of our generation. If you are interested in continuing to be involved, or becoming involved now, please email meiliryan@gmail.com

Many people who’ve never been involved in politics before have become inspired to participate, believing that for the first time their ideas and concerns are being represented. We can turn that inspiration and excitement into a new direction for the NDP and the province.

Thank you for your interest and support,

Ryan