Leonard Eugene Krog is a Canadian politician and lawyer in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, who currently serves as mayor of

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

. He previously served in the provincial legislature on two occasions as a member of the

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...

(BC NDP), representing the riding of

Parksville-Qualicum Parksville-Qualicum was a former provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest betwe ...

from 1991 to 1996, and the riding of

from 2005 to 2018.

Biography

Born in Nanaimo, Krog grew up in the community of Coombs as the youngest of four children. His father Doug, a logging contractor, drowned when he was four, after which his mother Eileen returned to teaching. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

in 1979, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1980. He operated a law practice in Nanaimo with his wife Sharon, whom he married in 1973; they have two children together. Krog was first elected as

member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for

in the 1991 general election. During that term, he served as a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

in the

Mike Harcourt Michael Franklin Harcourt Officer of the Order of Canada, OC (born January 6, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th List of mayors of Vancouver ...

NDP government. He ran for re-election in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

but was defeated by BC Liberal candidate

Paul Reitsma Paul Reitsma (born January 22, 1948) is a former member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, for the electoral district of Parksville-Qualicum. He was born in 1948 in the Netherlands. Reitsma served as the mayor of Port Alb ...

. Following Reitsma's resignation in June 1998, Krog ran for the seat again in the December by-election, but lost to the Liberal's Judith Reid. He attempted to re-enter the legislature by running for the NDP in the riding of

at the 2001 election. However, with the NDP trailing in the polls, he finished second behind Liberal candidate Mike Hunter. While out of the legislature, Krog ran in the 2003 BC NDP leadership election, finishing in second place behind Carole James in the second ballot. He faced Hunter again in the 2005 election; this time Krog won the seat in Nanaimo. He was subsequently re-elected in the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

elections, serving as opposition critic to the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. When the NDP formed government in 2017, Krog was appointed Government Caucus Chair in the legislature. On October 20, 2018, he was elected Mayor of Nanaimo; he resigned as Nanaimo MLA on November 30 of that year. He handily won re-election in the 2022 mayoral race.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Biography from the website of the Legislative Assembly of British ColumbiaBC NDP Web ProfileAuthorized constituency web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krog, Leonard Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Lawyers in British Columbia Mayors of Nanaimo Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni 21st-century mayors of places in British Columbia 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia