He previously served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2018 to 2022.

[1] He attended Vanier Collegiate in Moose Jaw before going on to the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) where he studied Human Anatomy and Languages.

The project raised money to purchase a school bus, which was then filled with prosthetic limbs for landmine victims and driven to Nicaragua.

[11] After publishing the first edition Meili founded and led a non-profit think tank called Upstream: Institute for a Healthy Society, which has since joined the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

[12] Party leader Lorne Calvert's retirement in 2008 triggered a leadership election, and in February 2009 Meili decided to enter the race to replace the former premier.

Meili was the fourth and final declared candidate in the race, joining former Deputy Premier Dwain Lingenfelter, Moose Jaw MLA Deb Higgins, and former party president Yens Pedersen.

However, Meili ran a campaign that relied on grassroots volunteering and fundraising and focused on party renewal, and he placed a surprising second behind Lingenfelter, earning 45% of votes on the second and final ballot.

Meili had greater notoriety in the race compared to 2009, and he based his campaign around the ideas presented in his book, A Healthy Society.

While Meili had by then run twice from outside the legislature, he announced in December 2016 that he would be seeking the nomination for a by-election to be held in the riding of Saskatoon Meewasin in 2017 after the death of MLA Roger Parent.

[27] He was joined in the race by Wotherspoon, who had finished third behind Meili in 2013 and who acted as interim leader for a time after Broten's resignation.

[28] Meili ran on a platform including a $15 minimum wage, universal pharmacare, and the banning of corporate and union donations.

[33] He advocated for the creation of a multi-party committee, including both medical and economic experts, to guide the province's pandemic response after its first presumptive case that month, but the idea was rebuffed by Premier Scott Moe.

Perceiving a fracture in support for the government, he argued that the NDP needed a leader who could both unify the caucus and the party ahead of the next election.

[46] On May 19, Meili announced that he would also be resigning as MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin effective July 1, leaving the party with just eleven seats in the Legislative Assembly.

[51][52] In April 2020, when the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting Saskatchewan, Meili renewed his medical license and began working shifts at a testing and assessment centre in Saskatoon.