Ryan’s the master of puns but “Make it Ryan” instead of “Make it Rain” works pretty well too, especially after you manage to win a couple hundred bucks in the 50/50 draw at a Steak Night fundraiser!
Now I can make another donation to Ryan’s campaign *and* pay for all my drinks at the all-inclusive we’re going to in a couple days! 😉
My parents are already in Mexico and sent us this photo…
After years without quite making it to the ultimate victory, in 1984, only one year after Wayne Gretzky was made his Captain, Mark Messier was drinking from the Stanley Cup.
Some other fun facts about Gretzky, Messier and their intertwined destinies:
* Messier had 37 points in his first season in the NHL and Gretzky had 137 showing how quickly the multi-talented Gretzky dominated, even as a rookie.
* Gretzky is universally respected as the only player to have his jersey retired league wide. Messier is also widely respected (except for those who see his path to their team’s Captaincy mired in controversy.)
* Wayne Gretzky changed the way the game was played by being bold, creative, and doing things differently than how they’d always been done. For example, he utilized his “office” behind the net to generate offense and the league also had to change power play rules because of how successful the Oilers were with Gretzky leading the charge.
* Gretzky went on to surpass the “unbeatable” records of one of the game’s greatest legends from the mid-20th century, a great Canadian by the name of Gordie Howe.
* Gretzky is an accomplished natural helper. He achieved the almost unbelievable feat of having more *assists* in his career than any other player has total points!
* Messier won more Stanley Cups (6) over his 25-year career than Gretzky did in his 20 year career (4). But Gretzky won more Conn Smythe trophies than Messier (2-1) meaning that Gretzky was seen by voters as contributing the most to his team’s Stanley Cup wins in 50% of their victories versus only 25% of the time for Messier.
* Gretzky was never the most physical or the most skilled player – much of his success was ultimately attributed to his intelligence and how well he saw the entire game, much like those who are masters of games such as chess…or Scrabble.
Gretzky’s size and strength were far below average for the NHL but he is widely considered the smartest player in the history of the game. – Wikipedia
* In his best season, Gretzky raised 215 points, nearly double the 129 that Messier raised in his best season.
* Gretzky wasn’t known for going into the corners or exchanging punishing hits with others…because he didn’t need to:
Gretzky discouraged unfair hits in another way. “If a guy ran him, Wayne would embarrass that guy”, said former Oiler Captain Lee Fogolin. “He’d score six or seven points on him. I saw him do it night after night.”
* Messier’s career penalty average was 76 PIM per season and he was known for taking liberties with the rules, enjoying the rough stuff, and even the occasional Fight. Gretzky’s average was 27 PIM per season and he was the winner of five Lady Byng trophies showing that he had great success while exhibiting sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct as well as a high standard of play.
* Gretzky also won nine regular season Hart Trophies as league MVP while Messier won two as chosen by voters.
In summary, both players were great, had amazing careers and were award-winning leaders who accomplished a variety of goals in many different settings over different periods of time.
But the reality is this – Messier spent most of his career in Gretzky’s shadow in terms of who was captain first, who led their team to a Cup first, who was the most dominant on the scoresheet (in a wide variety of ways) and who ended up holding the most records through their many years spent working together and competing with one another.
Plus I can’t think of any other player that would be considered the natural heir to Gordie Howe, the best player of the mid-20th Century and one of the best players Canada has ever produced other than the Great One, Wayne Gretzky.
This is a video I made in the lead-up to the 2013 Sask NDP Leadership Vote.
And honestly, do I detect an echo?
So many of the things that Ryan led in during in the last leadership race are areas where he’s once again leading in – fundraising, “fun”raising, engaging members, online engagement, etc. etc. etc.
Ryan didn’t pull if off last time but sometimes when you wake up, you’re a bit groggy for awhile (four years? Sure why not?)
Anyhow, let’s hope the party wakes up from its ten year slumber next Saturday!
(The original FB thread has been deleted but
I’m posting this with the author’s permission.)
This post is ridiculously long so here’s the TL;DR version:
A month ago, I posted my endorsement of Ryan Meili.
Now I’d like to do a more direct appeal to the members of the NDP who might be planning to vote for his opponent or who are undecided about who to support.
And since I’m a librarian, I’m going to tell you a story (sorry, it’s so long – please don’t bring your kids to my storytimes!) 😉
The story begins when I bought my first NDP membership in 2001 to vote in the the Sask NDP leadership race. Although I generally supported the party and its goals, other than filling out my ballot during the election every four years, I had no further involvement in the race or with the party. Buying a membership was my first (tiny) step to greater involvement.
But then, my candidate didn’t win and we ended up moving to Alberta. So greater involvement would have to wait as I didn’t buy another membership until 2009 when I was inspired to get involved by Ryan Meili’s upstart campaign for leader where he came out of nowhere to beat two better known candidates – a former party president and a sitting MLA – to finish with 45% of the final vote against longtime NDP stalwart, Dwain Lingenfelter who came out of retirement to win the leadership with 55% of the vote.
As I found myself drawn more and more into Ryan’s 2009 campaign as a newly-engaged NDP member, I started to realise that, while all members fall somewhere on a continuum from “ND-Who Is Calling?” to “NDP4Life”, essentially the party has two kinds of members – there are a core group of people who are die-hard, loyal members who can be counted on to prepare food for a fundraising supper, to canvass on a cold winter’s day, to give up evenings and weekends for endless meetings. They are the people who are loyal to whichever Leader is chosen because their ultimate commitment is to the party. In sports, you’d say they cheer for the logo on the front of the jersey instead of the number on the back which is another way to say they cheer for the team no matter who’s playing for them or how the team’s fortunes are going.
I say with all sincerity that these members are truly the lifeblood of the party.
Then there are those members who aren’t as involved – they vote NDP in (most) elections but might not take the next step to donating or volunteering for the party. They’ll buy a membership during a leadership race but might not renew the following year. Or they’ll get involved because they like a certain candidate but may pull back if that candidate doesn’t win. (In sports, these are often people who are fans of a player more than a team. For example, many Edmonton Oiler fans became LA King fans overnight when Wayne Gretzky got traded. Some might call them “fair weather” fans or “bandwagon” fans and that’s usually said with a negative connotation but I can guarantee that any team is happier when their bandwagon is full of fair weather fans spending money and supporting the team in various other ways than when it isn’t!)
During that 2009 race, I also discovered something else – that each type of member might be just a wee bit…suspicious…of the other.
Those who are most loyal may not understand why others aren’t as committed to the team as they are. Others who aren’t as committed to the team may feel judged for joining only because they like a particular candidate or feel strongly about a single issue. To go back to my sports analogy, the hardcore fans might not think others are “true” fans because they only buy tickets to the occasional game but aren’t season ticket holders.
The final thing I came to understand is that both views are legitimate, both types of members are critical to the party’s success, and yet, ultimately, there will always be a lot more silent NDP supporters in this province than those who stay actively involved. And those silent supporters are the ones the party needs to encourage to take the next step to being more engaged if the NDP is going to win elections.
In 2001, I was the first kind of member – I bought my membership and voted for a leader. Then I disappeared for eight years.
In 2009, Ryan’s campaign helped move me towards being the second kind of member – I volunteered, I donated and helped with his campaign however I could (and still probably have the slivers from making picket signs to prove it!) When Ryan didn’t win and though I wasn’t a huge fan of Lingenfelter, I didn’t pull back but instead got involved with my local constituency association and with a candidate who reminded me a lot of Ryan with his youth, intelligence and unique personal story.
But then the 2013 leadership race happened.
After leading on the first ballot, Ryan lost a heartbreakingly close leadership race to Cam Broten by less than a city bus of voters out of a small city’s worth of votes cast.
I felt strongly that the party had made the same mistake in 2013 as they’d made in 2009 by choosing the “safer” candidate. In sports lingo, they picked the wrong Captain for the team.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” they say.
So instead of knocking on doors in -20 weather and helping to plan fundraising events and serving on the executive of my local constituency association as I had for the past few years, I decided to sit on my hands during the next provincial election. The hardcore fans would accuse me of abandoning the team and they’re right. In my sports analogy, I’d stepped off the bandwagon.
Unfortunately, another highly qualified NDP candidate, running in my home riding which is traditionally a safe NDP seat, lost one of the closest races in the 2013 provincial election. I don’t know how much impact one volunteer can have but I do wonder if there were enough potential volunteers – perhaps newer or more peripheral – who also chose not to get as involved because they were unhappy with the leader who was chosen or the direction of the party that could’ve led to a different result.
(Side note: that losing candidate has endorsed Ryan and, although Trent has the bulk of the endorsements from current MLAs, I think it’s very telling that Ryan has the bulk of endorsements from former candidates – from all across the province – who *lost* the last election because who do you think is better positioned to identify some of the problems with the status quo of the party?)
Anyhow, Ryan takes a lot of heat for not somehow *making* his supporters stay involved when he lost in 2009 and 2013.
And I know from personal experience that’s *absolute bullshit* because I tried it both ways – being heavily involved and the NDP suffered losses and not being involved and the party suffered losses.
So maybe it’s not just about how involved Meili supporters are or aren’t but the direction of the party for the past ten years and whether that makes some of the less committed supporters *want* to be involved?
A Trent Wotherspoon supporter recently posted a Facebook thread that ended with her commenting that, even as a Wotherspoon supporter, she was almost more afraid about what happen if Ryan lost than if he won with the implication that all of Ryan’s supporters would leave the party.
Wanna know a secret?
I have the same worry.
Because I like the team (Sask NDP) but I love the skills of one of their players (Ryan Meili). And this isn’t meant to be a threat or emotional blackmail. But I’ve seen it happen in the last three leadership races and whether you agree with it or not, yes, it is a reality that Ryan has had much more success at bringing in new, less committed or otherwise engaged members than his opponents. And those people are less likely to buy a ticket to the game if Ryan’s on the bench but not picked as Captain.
So, like I said, I’ve done my endorsement.
Now, here’s something that’s much more important – my appeal…
Not all diehard NDP members are supporting Trent Wotherspoon. Ryan was endorsed by Eric Cline, QC who is one of the most accomplished and successful MLAs in Sask NDP history (and if you read any linked article in this post, go read Mr. Cline’s endorsement – it’s really good!)
And Trent isn’t exclusively supported by only the most diehard, long term NDP members. He’s also been endorsed by some pretty radical young grassroots activists.
But that’s the impression I have of how support in the race is generally divided.
So I’m writing this to specifically ask anyone who fits the description of the first type of member to think about doing something to reach out a hand to the second type of member to help bring them into the party?
As I said, in three straight leadership races, I have seen Ryan Meili bring in so many new, eager voices to the party – people who want to be excited about politics, people who want to be engaged with politics, people who hunger for something bold and different. Rightly or wrongly, many of them get involved as much for what Ryan brings as for the party he wants to lead.
But these are the people who the party needs if they’re going to *finally* beat the Sask Party after what has been, frankly, ten years in the wilderness where we’ve not only lost badly but even had two Leaders that couldn’t even hold their seats in supposedly “safe” NDP seats.
So beyond all the other positive qualities that Ryan offers to help defeat the Sask Party in 2020 – his rural roots, his high trust level as a family doctor, his willingness to fight for what he believes – I’m asking you to consider doing something to show that you want those new people to start becoming a more dedicated, loyal member and to help the Sask NDP once again form government.
Don’t vote for the leader *you* think is best for the party; vote for the leader you think is best for *renewing* the party.
(Don’t believe Ryan is better positioned to do this? The latest financial results for the Sask NDP leadership race were released today and Ryan had nearly twice as many donors as Trent – 896 to 538 – and also had outraised him by $30,000, actually *increasing* his margin over the past month which also shows strong momentum!)
So once again, please consider voting Ryan Meili for Leader to help keep the many new people he’s bringing into the party engaged and involved as we head towards a critical election in 2020!
(If you’re still reading, I’ve got an appeal to Meili supporters too – which I’ll repeat more prominently if Ryan wins next Saturday. If Ryan wins and you’re a Meili supporter, *please* find a way to reach out to Trent supporters, graciously and without gloating. Don’t judge Trent’s supporters because you only agree on 80% of NDP orthodoxy instead of 100%. Don’t submit them to Purity Tests. Don’t block them on Facebook if they don’t agree with something you say or you dislike something they post. Because ultimately, we’re all on the same team and we’ve got a couple star players. For those keeping track, after comparing Ryan to Tommy Douglas, Barack Obama and Gandhi, I think I’ve now compared him to Wayne Gretzky. 😉 But if Ryan is Wayne Gretzky, Trent is Mark Messier and those are two players that make the foundation for a pretty damn good team!)
[Edit: I can’t believe I didn’t think of another Oilers analogy when I first wrote this but the Oilers, like the Sask NDP, are, in many ways, coasting off their glory years from long ago rather than focussing on building a team for today. This has left them, even with one of the best players of all-time now on their roster, still a team that’s in complete disarray. And yes, I’ve now managed to compare Ryan to both Wayne Gretzky *and* Connor McDavid in a single post!] 🙂
After nearly seven months of waiting, in seven days we’ll be at this resort!
As the big air competition begins in the Olympics tonight, this is a pretty amazing documentary.
Fun friend-of-a-friend name-dropping trivia: The filmmaker is Mark McMorris’ manager who is married to a girl that I used to babysit. My parents even attended their wedding but my invitation got lost in the mail. 😉
One week until we go to Mexico and the preparations are heating up (you’d think staying for two weeks instead of one simply means you pack twice as many bathing suits but unfortunately, that’s not the case!)
Plus we’ve got a busy week ahead of us with a variety of appointments, meetings (though I found out last night that, as of Saturday, I’ll no longer have to be Treasurer for a local organization so to this word guy, that’s good news!) 😉
Anyhow, it’s always cool to watch a movie connected to where you’re going on holiday (watching “Blue Hawaii” before a Kauai trip in 2012 being a personal highlight) and we also got to have a family movie night last night that featured the latest Pixar release, “Coco” which happens to have Mexico’s “Day of the Dead” as it’s overarching theme including this song:
“Remember Me” – Coco Soundtrack
There’s half a dozen reasons I support Ryan in a single photo: 1) he’s now an MLA, 2) he spends a lot of time in the Legislative Library researching and reading, 3) he’s (probably) the only current MLA who has a book in that same library, 4) so many people I knew in that room from libraries, publishing, and the arts & culture sector were excited to meet Ryan, 5) he had time for all of them 6) he easily switched to speaking French with a former Sask Book Awards board member that I introduced him to.
In both the 2009 and 2013 Sask NDP Leadership races, I did a series of posts where I listed 10 reasons why I thought Ryan was the best choice for the Sask NDP.
In my #1 reason in my 2009 list, I said “Ryan has the potential to be a transformative leader for Saskatchewan.”
In my #1 reason in my 2013 list, I said “Ryan is the best choice. Period.”
Of course, in that final 2013 post, I also said “… I really hope I’m not forced to do a “100 Reasons I’m Supporting Ryan Meili” the next time the NDP has a Leadership race if he doesn’t win this one!”
So here we are.
<sigh>
And here I go…
(It won’t be hard for me to come up with 100 reasons I’m supporting Ryan but, one caveat, I will be re-using the reasons I gave in 2009 and 2013 plus a list I helped Ryan’s team write for a series of holiday posts in the 2013 race because those reasons haven’t changed over the past decade. But that may mean there are a few items on this list that are near-duplicates or variations on the same idea.)
2009 Reasons
100. He’s soft-spoken
99. He’s got very little baggage
98. He’s run a positive campaign
97. He’s my age
96. His innovative use of technology
95. He gets things done
94. His openness
93. His commitment to Saskatchewan
92. He dreams big
91. His potential as a transformative leader for the province
2013 Reasons
90. I voted for his last time
89. His team
88. His book
87. He grew up on a farm
86. He dropped out of Sutherland (but kept his beard)
85. He makes politics fun
84. He turns it up to 10!
83. That positive thing
82. He’s proved the doubters wrong
81. He’s the best choice. Period.
Some of the Specific Reasons I Gave In My Final 2013 Post of *Why* I Thought Ryan Was The Best Choice – Period.
80. He out fundraised all three other leadership candidates in 2013
79. He’s done innovative fundraisers in his leadership runs from “money bombs” to book sales
78. He’s done extremely well in bringing in new people to the party
77. He appeals to everyone from the former leader of the Green Party to right-wing radio host John Gormley who’s been quoted as saying “I’ve got a lot of time for [Meili].”
76. His in-depth knowledge of our healthcare system which is consistently a top-ranked issue for voters
75. His successful integration of technology and social media in his campaign
74. His roots and work in rural Saskatchewan
73. His strong connection to northern Saskatchewan as well as his development work overseas
72. His respect for (and from) Saskatchewan’s Indigenous people
71. The (unexpected?) support he’s gotten from unions
Reasons from “12 Days, 12 Stories, 12 Ways to Help” Ryan Posted to Facebook Over The Holidays During the 2013 Race
70. His family
69. He came to his social democratic values when he was young .
68. He’s traveled to every corner of the province as a doctor, author and politician.
67. His effective use of social media and new technology.
66. He is musical having played guitar and sang in bands.
65. His love of language.
64. He knows how to deal with personal handicaps.
63. He’s the author of a bestselling book.
62. His ongoing work to protect Medicare.
61. He’s a nice guy who practices positive politics.
60. His creative fundraising efforts, from before he entered medical school up to his campaigns which have featured ideas including “Money Bombs” and “Book Bombs”.
59. Ryan is a lover of language who is a master of clever puns and quick-witted wordplay which serves him well, whether in the Legislature, in debates or at events.
58. He authored a highly readable but also detailed book about his views on politics.
57. He speaks French fluently.
56. He speaks Spanish fluently.
55. He speaks Portuguese fluently.
54. He has a basic understanding of Xitswa, the local language of rural Mozambique where he’s frequently practiced medicine in the past.
53. He’s picked up a few words in Cree and Dene.
52. He’s also picked up a few words in Tagalog, Bengali and Tamil.
51. I don’t know for sure but suspect he probably knows a few words in American Sign Language too! 😉
50. I’ve compared Ryan to Tommy Douglas.
49. I’ve compared Ryan to Barack Obama.
48. I’ve compared Ryan to Bernie Sanders.
47. I’ve compared Ryan (jokingly?) to Gandhi.
46. But ultimately, Ryan is none of those and those comparisons, though useful shorthand for what type of leadership he would provide or what type of personality he has, are meaningless and if elected, he will obviously be his own person – with all the strengths and weaknesses that entails. With that said, a leader who shares some of the best qualities of Douglas (knowledge of healthcare) and Obama (skilled use of technology) and Sanders (strong grassroots support) sounds okay to me!
45. Ryan has lived and worked in rural Saskatchewan.
44. Ryan has lived and worked in northern Saskatchewan.
43. Ryan has lived and worked in mostly First Nations communities.
42. Ryan has lived and worked in Saskatchewan’s largest and most vibrant city.
41. Ryan has lived and worked in the inner-city of a major urban centre.
[40 – 31 Redacted. I thought about listing 10 reasons that focus on why I decided to continue to support Ryan rather than his opponent and/or what I saw as some of his opponent’s weaknesses. But, because of Ryan’s focus on running a positive campaign and doing politics differently, I decided to not put anything that might be considered a smear or an attack – whether intended that way or not. But I have written those ten reasons and I don’t think any of them would be a surprise to anyone following this race or Saskatchewan politics in general over the past decade of why I think Ryan would make a better leader than his opponent or what some of his opponent’s biggest weaknesses are and why they could be more problematic for the NDP going forward than Ryan’s own weaknesses.]
30. When Ryan did it in his first run in 2009, it was probably partly due to a lack of options. But in 2017/18, Ryan continues to feature endorsements by lesser-known party members, activists and others instead of only those who have high name recognition within the NDP.
29. Ryan was endorsed by Tom Mulcair, arguably the biggest political name to endorse during this race. This is doubly important because you’d expect Ryan to be endorsed by someone who’s seen as equally “left wing” like Niki Ashton, not someone who’s perceived as a centrist (and former Liberal) like Mulcair.
28. Ryan was endorsed by Yann Martel, arguably the most famous endorser for either candidate.
27. In the age of #metoo, Ryan was endorsed by the young woman who, arguably more than anyone in the province, has done more to put a focus on the issue within politics in general and the NDP in particular.
26. I didn’t do a specific count but it’s very telling that Trent is getting a lot of his endorsements from *current* MLA’s whereas Ryan seems to be getting a lot of endorsements (or behind-the-scenes support) from people who ran in the last election but were not successful and maybe have more insight into some of the problems the NDP needs to fix on the front lines and in the wider community than those who have served, often in safe NDP seats and/or for multiple terms.
25. Out of the former candidates who have endorsed, Ryan has more from rural candidates and more from across all areas of the province compared to his opponent who’s gotten most of his support from Regina-based former candidates or those in Saskatoon with very few (none?) who live outside the two major centres.
24. It’s not just *who* endorsed but how. Ryan has been very strategic with releasing his endorsements – for example, releasing endorsements by two members of the USSU right before a debate at the U of S or an endorsement by nationally known writer, Trevor Herriot the same day as Herriot’s editorial calling for change appeared in newspapers. Heck, my own endorsement, where I talk about Ryan’s love of language, the book he authored and his lifelong love of libraries was released, very fittingly, on Family Literacy Day. That to me shows a team that’s paying attention to the details and maximizing the impact of the things they’re putting out whether its policy, endorsements or what have you. It also makes me think that Ryan’s a leader who will make things happen in an organized, strategic fashion.
23. Ryan has addressed most of the main criticisms that he’s faced. For example, one of the biggest charges against him in the last leadership race was “He’s not an MLA”. Now he’s an MLA (though that just means the goal posts move again – others now say “He’s not an *experienced* enough MLA which I find funny as I don’t think the NDP’s last decade are anything that anybody should brag about or cite as an example of building leadership!) 🙂
22. After losing the last leadership race, Ryan re-grouped and founded the “Upstream Institute for a Healthier Society” which has quickly attained a major national profile as a think tank and social movement.
21. Ryan has an honesty and a sincerity that shine through when you talk to him.
20. In each of his three leadership campaigns, Ryan’s had a female campaign manager.
19. In the current race, his campaign manager is a woman (and without going negative, I’ll just state the fact that also he’s the only candidate in the race with a female campaign manager!) 😉
18. He’s surrounded himself with many other highly qualified women in his political and other activities.
17. Ryan’s wife is a highly qualified pediatrician who has also had published articles and chapters in books and done a great deal of advocacy work for different groups – most notably children of immigrant families.
16. To me, he’s had the most engaging video content once again.
15. He’s also had the most engagement online once again
14. If this was a job interview (which it sort of is, I guess) and you started by looking at Ryan’s paper resume alone without knowing anything about him or his opponent, he’d be hard to beat just on that basis alone.
13. As a doctor, Ryan has had formal training in the hard sciences.
12. Because of that, he is a believer in evidence-based practice and says that’s how he would try to do politics too – making the best decisions based on evidence instead of “what the base wants” or “what will help us win the next election”.
11. Ryan isn’t a “typical politician. He’s both more inspirational and more aspirational with his skill at showing how our strengths lie as a unified group and how “we” is more important than “me” in a province like Saskatchewan.
10. As I type this, both Trent and Ryan have released about a dozen policy statements give or take. But I find Ryan’s more detailed but also more open to saying “I’m not going to define this – I’m going to consult people and develop it to make it the best it can be.” I also like that Ryan has released some unique ones – Arts & Culture being the one that appeals to me personally.
9. In terms of what might be termed their “signature” issues in terms of which policy they released earliest and have given a lot of focus to, Ryan’s is “Universal Pharmacare” while Trent’s seems to be “Universal Mental Health Care”. Obviously both are very important but I think that Universal Pharmacare, which is provided in every nation that has a national health system *except* Canada has the potential to be the most beneficial to society overall. It’s also very clear to anyone *why* Dr. Ryan Meili would make universal pharmacare his signature issue whereas I’ve never had it made clear why universal mental health care is so core to Ryan’s opponent’s policy approach.
8. Many worry that Ryan will be portrayed as “too far left” by the Sask Party. I have two problems with this – worrying about what the other guys might do is self-defeating and it also ignores that, for most non-political junkies, they don’t even think in terms of “left vs. right” but instead, “right vs. wrong” and I think Ryan is very convincing when he talks about what we, as a society, want to do well for everyone, not just for the wealthiest individuals or powerful corporations.
7. Once again, Ryan’s campaign has dominated in fundraising, earning almost twice as much as his opponent.
6. This is related to that last point but can’t be stressed enough – Ryan took a very risky but principled position in refusing to accept corporate and union donations during this leadership race – a position endorsed by the Sask NDP as a party and which his opponent had actually advocated for in the Legislature. This position could’ve just as easily sunk Ryan’s campaign before it even began. But people have responded – with more people donating and with Ryan raising twice what his opponent has – even without (financial) support from unions or corporations.
5. Ryan’s personality, his profession and his performance in this, and previous leadership contests, make him the candidate who is best positioned to rebuild the NDP.
4. Like any candidates, both Trent and Ryan have positives and negatives. But I think Ryan’s negatives would be much easier to refute/counter in an election campaign than Trent’s would be (if you want to see that redacted list I mentioned above, just drop me a line!) 😉
3. Frankly, there are a lot people who were absolutely certain that Dwain Lingenfelter and later, Cam Broten, were the answer to the Sask NDP’s woes. I’ve blogged about this and how many of those people weren’t wrong exactly (since they had good reasons for who they supported) but, whether they admit it now or not, they *were* ultimately mistaken. Ryan is (and has always been) something new, different and unique compared to the others who’ve run for the leadership of the NDP and honestly, at this point after ten years in the wilderness, it feels like the NDP has nothing to lose by electing him and trying something new, different, bold and unique.
2. Ryan truly *walks the walk* of being a democratic socialist. He actually practices what he preaches and lives in the inner-city of Saskatoon among some of the poorest in our society. He goes overseas to work directly on international development and provide medical aid.
1. Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where pretty much all politicians are regarded as somewhere between used car salesmen and Nigerian Princes on the trust-o-meter but as a relative newcomer to elected politics and as a former doctor (one of the most trusted professions in society), Ryan is someone that I know voters will trust which, rightly or wrongly, is not the case for the majority of other politicians.
Love from all of us…
