Meili visits as race wraps up

As the NDP leadership race winds down, candidate Ryan Meili visited Prince Albert to meet with local aboriginal leadership Monday.

While his meeting with the Prince Albert Grand Council didn't make quorum, Meili said he was glad to have a discussion with Chief Ron Michel.

Michel is trying to arrange a follow-up meeting for today.

Meili said he wants to hear what issues aboriginal communities are facing and what they would like to see from the NDP in the future.

"I think it's really important as a party that we have good relationships with First Nations community, certainly the PAGC representing the number of groups that they do," Meili said.

"I feel that were going to have a bit of work to do after this leadership campaign - the membership scandal, the little issue with Facebook - we're going to have some work to do to ensure those relationships are healed and working well going forward."

The membership scandal Meili refers to was a volunteer from the Dwain Lingenfelter campaign signing up 1,100 people from reserves near Meadow Lake for NDP memberships without their consent.

Just recently Lingenfelter was forced to remove a photo from his Facebook page, which showed him shaking hands with Wally Burns, chief of the James Smith Cree Nation. The photo said he was a Lingenfelter supporter, but Burns said he supports the Saskatchewan Party.

"I probably would have joked that I had no camera with me," said Meili, on what he would have done if the topic came up.

"It's important we not take for granted the support we've had in the past from First Nations communities."

Meili's campaign also recently completed a money bomb, where donations of a particular denomination are asked for in order to reach a goal in a set period of time.

Meili's age, 34, was picked as the number and the goal was $10,000 during the course of last week.

"We had amazing success. In a week we raised over $12,000 and the vast majority of the donations were $34," Meili said.

Knowing he has the support makes Meili excited for the convention on Saturday.

"I came into this as the fellow no one had heard of. In the short period of time I have been in the race ... every indication is that I am in a strong second place and I think that gives me a real chance ... to end in first," he said.