Background
Meili was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and grew up on a family farm near Courval, Saskatchewan.
Meili was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and grew up on a family farm near Courval, Saskatchewan.
He attended Vanier Collegiate in Moose Jaw before going on to the University of Saskatchewan where he studied Human Anatomy and Languages. Meili entered the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in September 2000 and graduated in 2004. He completed his residency at the Westwinds Primary Health Centre in Saskatoon in June 2007.
He ran for the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party in 2009 and 2013, placing second both times. Meili lives and works in Saskatoon’s core community of Riversdale. He is a family physician at WestSide Community Clinic and SWITCH (Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community Health).
After finishing his first degree, Meili"s first attempt to attend medical school was rejected.
He then travelled to South America for five months and experienced life the developing world. In 1999 he co-organized a project called Limbs and Light for Latin America which raised money to purchase a school bus which they then filled with prosthetic limbs for landmine victims and drove to Nicaragua.
In 2012 he published "A Healthy Society: how a focus on health can revive Canadian democracy."
In 2001, Meili was arrested during a peaceful protest at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. He received an absolute discharge and the conviction was erased after one year.
2009
Meili entered the race for the leadership of Saskatchewan"s NDP party on February 5, 2009.
He was the fourth and final declared candidate joining former Deputy Premier Dwain Lingenfelter. Modern Language Association Deb Higgins and former party president, Yens Pedersen. Meili ran on a platform of party renewal: "Meili said he hopes his entry into the race helps revive the NDP. "If the NDP is allowed to die, only to be resuscitated every 20 years.
. then we’re not building a healthy society." His policies placed him in the progressive wing of the party. As part of his campaign, Meili released a series of professionally produced campaign videos and announced a week-long "money bomb" which was the first of its kind in Canadian politics. Meili placed second to Lingenfelter, with 45% of the vote on the second ballot.
2013
On September 14, 2012, Meili announced that he would once again be seeking the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP. Three other candidates entered the leadership race: Cam Broten, economist Erin Weir and Modern Language Association Trent Wotherspoon.
On February 20, 2013, Weir dropped his bid for the leadership and announced he would support Meili. Meili again placed second, losing by just 44 votes on the second ballot.
Meili initially sought the NDP nomination for Saskatoon Sutherland prior to the 2011 provincial election but later withdrew. He also considered running as a federal NDP candidate for the riding of Saskatoon West in 2015, but decided not to