Ryan Meili has written a book, drawing on his unique experience as a doctor and leader of the Saskatchewan NDP during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The book tells individual stories from each of the five waves and looks at the good decisions that were made and those that weren’t.
Meili notes that the problems seen during the pandemic were not new, with wait times in emergency rooms, not enough staff for long term care homes, challenges with access to health care, and rising homelessness, but COVID did bring the issues into focus and magnify them.

He understands that many people want an amnesty from COVID but adds that amnesty and amnesia are two different things and for governments and for public health leaders to learn, there needs to be an inquiry.

Meili says, “Imagine a new illness killing thousands of people across the country, over 2,000 in Saskatchewan – many more sick, many more massive impacts on health care system and we are not even asking the questions about what that should teach us.

He suggests the same is true across Canada, except British Columbia which has had its own review.
Meili’s book ‘A Healthy Future: Lessons from the Frontlines of a Crisis’ hits bookstores October 1st.