Ryan has a long and proven track record of accomplishing big goals at a relatively young age. This begins before any of the things he’s perhaps better known for with the fact that he not only completed medical school but earned an award for highest standing in his medical clerkship. I don’t want to get into the rumours and innuendo about education that’s coming out in this campaign. But I will state that Ryan is the only candidate who can legitimately be referred to as “doctor”. (Actually, I do have something to say about that – I don’t care what level of education Deb Higgins may or may not have, you don’t become an MLA without having at least some level of intelligence. As much as I’m proud of my own Master’s degree, I think too often we get into degree snobbery that does no one any good.)
Anyhow, back to the subject at hand, Ryan has a number of notable accomplishments:
- co-founder of SWITCH, a student-run interdisciplinary inner-city clinic
- Chair of College of Medicine Social Accountability Clinic
- runs the College of Medicine’s Making The Links
program which gives medical students the opportunity to work at clinics in Northern Saskatchewan, Saskatoon’s inner-city and inthe rural communities of
Mozambique in Africa. - 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. - Some don’t see this as an “accomplishment” but for many (including myself), his getting arrested for his principles during a peaceful protest in Quebec City in 2001 speaks volumes about his character.
- Ryan speaks three languages and part of a fourth (English, French, Spanish and part of an African dialect I believe)
- he a musician who plays guitar well enough to get on stage and perform (the same can not be said for myself which is I why I give people who take the time to learn an instrument such credit)
Someone observed that Ryan’s accomplished more in his few years in adulthood than many politicians accomplish in thirty-year careers. But more than that, even with all he’s accomplished as a physician and activist, Ryan realised that there was more he could do. And seeking political office was the way to do it. as he’s said himself, as a physician, he’s limited to treating one patient at a time. As leader of the NDP (and given past history, likely the eventual Premier), he would be in a position to make the broad, societal changes that could help hundreds and thousands of people at a time. As just one example, take a look at the Senior’s Policy Ryan released the other day. With an aging population, this is a critical issue that needs the kind of progressive yet level-headed approach that Dr. Meili is proposing. And of course his SaskPharm proposal (link includes a video clip of Dr. Meili speaking to Moose Jaw senior citizens) is the single best example of the scale of the change he hopes to implement to effect positive change for each and every citizen of our province and beyond.
Next: #4 – His Openness
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