Car talk with the NDP leadership candidates
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party selects a new leader on March 3, with Ryan Meili and Trent Wotherspoon in the running to become the new Leader of the Opposition.
What are the preferences of Meili and Wotherspoon when it comes to automobiles? I contacted both candidates to find out about what they’ve driven in the past, what they drive today – and to share other stories about cars and driving.
Q What was your first vehicle and what are some of your special memories of that car?
Trent Wotherspoon: My first vehicle was a 1966 Plymouth Valiant with a Slant 6 engine. It was a standard with a “three-onthe-tree” shifter and baby blue with a bit of rust. I purchased it for $320 as an enthusiastic 15-year-old with money I’d saved up working. I spent the next few months fixing it up until I turned 16 and could finally drive it.
Ryan Meili: The first vehicle I owned was a 1980 Toyota Corolla. Small car, good on gas, indestructible. I spent more high school nights than I’d like to admit driving back roads and cruising Main Street in Moose Jaw with friends, listening to mixtapes turned up way past what the factory speakers could deliver.
Q What was your best vehicle and why?
Meili: Just before I started medical school, a friend and I bought an old school bus, took out the seats, filled it to the roof with prosthetic limbs we gathered from rehab centres and hospitals across Canada, and drove it to Nicaragua to distribute to people injured by landmines. We put Bridget, as the bus came to be known, through her paces, travelling through the narrow streets of Quebec City, over mountain passes in West Virginia, and up and down Central American back roads. Not a luxury vehicle by any means, but 10,000 miles behind the wheel of a school bus was an unforgettable adventure.
Wotherspoon: It’s tough to beat the feeling of freedom provided by my first vehicle, but my favourite vehicle would be our old rugged 1964 Land Rover.
Q What was your worst vehicle and why? Wotherspoon: As much as I loved my first vehicle, the 1966 Valiant, it was probably also the worst vehicle I’ve owned. The fenders were rusted off, I had to open the trunk with a screwdriver, and I often had to open up the carb with a screwdriver to start it.
One day, while loaded up with my high school rugby teammates headed to a game, the car’s brakes completely failed. It was a bit frightening, but thankfully didn’t cause an accident. I spent the next couple weeks learning to fix them in the early mornings before school started in the school’s auto shop.
Meili: I had a 2009 VW Jetta TDI Wagon, got it just before the first time I ran for leader. It handled great, was incredible on fuel, and was very practical. There was only one problem: this was one of the diesels that VW had tampered with to display reduced emissions while actually polluting more than the average vehicle. I’d bought it to try to have less impact on the environment and was pretty disappointed to learn of that scam.
Q What is your current vehicle that you use most often, and what other vehicles are in your immediate family? Meili: When I learned about the problem with the VW, I returned it and bought a 2017 Hybrid Toyota RAV4. Having a fuel-efficient, environmentally responsible vehicle is important to me. I also need to travel all over the province, on rural grids and reserve roads, through mud and snow and freezing rain, so I need something with the ground clearance and traction to go anywhere and come home in good shape. Mahli drives a 2008 Toyota Yaris. Most of her driving is in town and she likes having something reliable, good on fuel and easy to park.
Wotherspoon: I drive a white
2012 Dodge Ram 1500, Stephanie drives a 2011 white Jeep Compass, and we have an old, rugged, four-wheel-drive 1964 Land Rover.
Q What will likely be your next vehicle and why?
Wotherspoon: We’re not in any rush to purchase new vehicles, my truck and Steph’s Jeep serve us well.
Meili: Trading in a car that’s still performing well has never seemed like a good way to treat a trusted friend. I’m hoping that by the time I’m in the market again, the technology and infrastructure will have advanced enough to make fully electric vehicles affordable and practical.
Q What would be your dream vehicle — if cost and practicality were not issues — and why
Meili: I once had a tan 1984 Mercedes diesel sedan with leather seats and a sunroof. It was a sweet ride with lots of swagger. It was also totally impractical, noisy as a train, and always breaking down, but I’d love to take a car like that out again.
Wotherspoon: As a dream project, I’d like to restore our old rugged 4 by 4, the 1964 Land Rover.
Q What other car stories would you like to share?
Wotherspoon: I enjoy driving, I find it relaxing. I’m on the road a lot reaching out across the province and I love watching the sun rise in the early morning while on the road. Sometimes on Sundays as a family we enjoy heading out for a cruise, often to Strasbourg for homemade pie, usually followed by a prairie hike.
Meili: I learned to drive on an old Allis-Chalmers tractor on the farm. I was five years old and we were out picking rocks. Dad figured I was less of a danger behind the wheel at five miles an hour than running around under the wheels or the stoneboat sled. I grew up driving pickups and grain trucks and have always enjoyed being behind the wheel, which is a good thing considering the miles you put on in a provincewide campaign.