Sask. NDP Leader Ryan Meili on his election defeat, COVID-19 policies and what's ahead
Opposition Leader Ryan Meili reflects on 2020 in year-end interview with CBC
Ryan Meil's 2020 did not go the way he had planned.
The NDP Leader's election campaign failed to gain ground on the Saskatchewan Party both in seats and percentage of votes.
The practising physician is ending his year receiving extra training in case he is called upon to care for COVID-19 patients.
Meili recently sat down with CBC for a year-end interview.
He said the prospect of a spring election, which was teased by government in March, was "way too dangerous."
"That's when I raised it in the House. I took the government quite a while to take that seriously. They laughed it off at first. But finally, as other provinces started to act and the public pressure mounted, they realized that this was something that was serious."
Since the spring, Meili has been one of the most outspoken critics of provincial policy on the pandemic.
He applauded the efforts of health-care workers, the SHA and educators, giving each a high grade.
"This government has been resistant to that leadership. They've not been supportive. They let the schools figure things out on their own. They have not been anywhere near as honest or as ready as they should have been. Scott, when it comes to the pandemic, has not done a good job. We've done well despite this premier, not because of him," Meili said.
He said the government got complacent with low case numbers in the summer and was not prepared for a second wave and that the impending election complicated the response.
"They didn't staff up in health care and testing and tracing in long-term care on the wards. They just didn't do it. They acted like it was done. And then they campaigned in an election on this idea that we'd beat it," Meili said.
"That's the big, I think, political shift that really twisted our response here in Saskatchewan."
Watch Meili's year-end interview here:
More recently Meili has been saying the government has not gone far enough to stop the second wave this fall.
In November, Meili pitched a three-week "circuit breaker" shutdown.
He believes that approach would have allowed the government to not have to restrict gatherings and businesses this Christmas.
"We got the worst of both worlds. We've got businesses being told to stay open while their customers are told to stay home. We've got people missing out on Christmas, but we still have hospitals increasingly full of patients who are COVID positive. And that means we didn't get it right."
"We could be having a much better circumstance right now if the premier had shown some courage."
'I have work to do'
Saskatchewan was the third province to hold a general election during the pandemic.
On Oct. 26, the Sask. NDP won 13 seats and 31 per cent of the vote. It was not the breakthrough Meili was promising on the campaign trail.
"It was a weird time to be campaigning. It's all about COVID-19", Meili said.
"You can't contact people the same way as you usually can. It means when people's lives are really disrupted, a message of let's make a big change is a harder message to sell."
Meili said he was proud of the campaign he ran. The party gained seats in Regina University, Saskatoon University and Saskatoon Eastview, but lost a longtime party stronghold of Saskatoon Riversdale. The NDP was shut out of seats outside of Regina, Saskatoon and northern Saskatchewan.
"I'm proud of the campaign we ran. I was hoping for more seats, but that's not what people were ready for this time."
Meili said he and the party need to shift their focus to 2024.
He said the disappointing result did not cause him to contemplate stepped down as leader.
"I knew that it was necessary and important to keep that continuity. I have work to do."
Meili said he does not think the party needs to shift its identity to attract more support.
The party replaced its CEO John Tzupa after the election and Meili named a new interim press secretary.
"We're going through some work right now asking ourselves the tough questions, reviewing the election and then making a plan for the next four years."
'An end in sight'
Like other Saskatchewan health-care workers, Meili has been preparing to fight the battle against COVID-19.
Meili returned to practising medicine in the spring and has been working at a COVID-19 testing site, doing clinics at Saskatoon's Lighthouse and more recently finishing some additional training.
"Anybody who hasn't worked in a hospital regularly is being invited and recruited to come in and do a little extra training, get up to date on how to work with COVID patients in the hospital," he said.
"I'm ready to go and work if there is a field hospital or whatever it is that's needed. And I know that my colleagues in medicine and nursing and all the health professions are doing the same thing and are ready to step up. I just really hope that we don't get to where that's needed."
Meili said he and his wife Mahli, a pediatrician, have had to try and balance working in a health-care setting and keeping themselves and their two sons safe.
"I just remember having some pretty tough conversations about how do we take care of each other, take care of our kids, but also do our jobs and take care of patients," Meili said.
Meili said 2021 brings expectations of widespread vaccine distribution and "tons of hope."
"This is so exciting. What an amazing time to see a vaccine developed less than a year after a new disease emerged, a new disease that spread around the world and had such a huge impact. And there's a hopefully an end in sight."
He also said hope is not a reason to let up.
"I also want to make sure that we don't get ahead of ourselves and relax before we can, that we don't ease off because we see the finish line ahead. The vaccine won't bring anybody back who we lose in these next couple of months."
As for Christmas, Meili said it will remind him of his childhood.
"It's going to be like a farm Christmas. Me, Mahli and our two boys. We're going to make the most of it and really focus on our two little boys. They are three and nine. I want them to remember this Christmas as a really special one."
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