The two candidates running for leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP pitched similar messages of social investment, alternative energy sources, and government accountability in Yorkton last week.
Trent Wotherspoon and Ryan Meili are vying for the Official Opposition leadership position in Saskatchewan. Wotherspoon is the MLA for Regina Rosemont and Meili represents the Saskatoon Meewasin district.
Cam Broten, the former leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, vacated his position after the 2016 provincial election. Wotherspoon served as interim leader of the party until he announced his candidacy for the position in August of last year. Meili stepped into the race last May.
Both candidates attended the event hosted by the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce at the Gallagher Centre on Feb. 8. They explained their platforms and fielded questions from the audience.
“It’s good to join you at this important time in our province and our party,” Wotherspoon said. “The stakes really couldn’t be higher and there’s such tremendous opportunity.”
“I made the leap into politics because I saw that’s where the biggest difference can be made,” Meili said. “I heard an appetite for change and a better approach.”
Wotherspoon, a former teacher, and Meili, a family doctor, both highlighted education and health services as cornerstones of their potential leaderships. Wotherspoon said he wants to deliver universal mental health and addiction services, along with affordable childcare.
“We need to build the most engaging classrooms possible,” he said. “It’s about placing investments in the right places.”
“I’m motivated to fix our broken mental health system,” he added. “Far too many are suffering in silence.”
Meili talked about a patient who took their life due to a lack of mental health services. He stressed how healthy, educated people can make the province stronger.
“We need to work together on it,” he said. “We can invest in people.”
Meili and Wotherspoon agreed on increased infrastructure spending, finding new energy avenues, and working on reconciliation with Indigenous groups.
“We need a real committment to closing the gap,” Meili said.
Both candidates fired shots at the SaskParty, aiming most of their ire at last year’s budget.
“It was a deceitful budget,” Wotherspoon said. “It was a betrayal.”
In their closing remarks, Wotherspoon and Meili thanked the audience for attending the event. They emphasized that the NDP has a strong opportunity in the next provincial election and each argued they were the leader to capitalize on it.
“Our province is at a crossroads right now,” Wotherspoon said. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves with our incredible team of MLAs.”
“It is a moment for change,” Meili said. “People don’t want more of the same.
“I’m not even convinced they want ‘Moe’ of the same.”
