Meili collects most money as vote nears

6,400 cast ballots in advance

REGINA — With one week to go until the Saskatchewan NDP picks its new leader, the contenders say they are working hard to encourage supporters to vote, especially considering there isn’t a clear front-runner in the contest.

“One of the exciting things about this is that it is a close race,” said Saskatoon doctor Ryan Meili, one of the three remaining candidates vying to be the next leader of the province’s official Opposition.

“This is a strong leadership contest with strong campaigns and strong candidates,” said another contender, Regina MLA Trent Wotherspoon. “I would urge and encourage every last member of this party to cast that ballot. Every vote will matter in a close process.”

According to numbers released by the NDP on Friday, about 6,400 members had already voted in advance — about 58 per cent of the total party membership. The leadership convention takes place in a week in Saskatoon, with the winner to be determined after voting on March 9.

“We’re on track to have a good turnout,” Saskatoon MLA Cam Broten, the other candidate in the leadership race, said about the advanced voting figures. “It shows that members are excited about the prospect of having a new leader very soon and they want to participate.” Final financial numbers for the campaigns were also released by the party Friday. Meili raised by far the most money overall, at about $136,000, compared to Wotherspoon’s $103,000 and Broten’s $83,000. But Broten raised the most, by a narrow margin, in the last reporting period.

“We had a great month,” he said. “It’s a good sign that people are supporting the campaign and contributing and want to play a part. . . . It’s a hugely important time for our party. We’re at a crossroads and selecting the right leader is a very important part of the building we need to do as a party.”

Meili noted his team is “pretty happy we were able to raise the most money for the length of the campaign,” adding his candidacy offers “a pretty stark decision between doing things the way they’ve tended to be done versus trying a different vision, a vision that will be bolder and more courageous.”

Wotherspoon said the upcoming weekend’s events will be “an incredibly important convention not only in the life of the New Democratic Party but in our province as a whole. . . . It’s been such a special journey.”

Interim leader John Nilson has been in charge since Dwain Lingenfelter resigned after his seat was one of 11 the NDP lost in the 2011 provincial election. Lingenfelter became leader in a 2009 race that saw Meili place second.

The current contest originally included Regina economist Erin Weir, who recently dropped out and threw his support behind Meili.