Yens Pedersen is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

from 2018 to 2020 representing the constituency of

Regina Northeast Regina Northeast is a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. This district includes the neighbourhoods of Parkridge, Uplands, Glencai ...

. He is a former candidate in the

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (Saskatchewan NDP or Sask NDP), branded as the Saskatchewan New Democrats, is a social democratic political party in Saskatchewan, Canada. The party was founded in 1932 as the Farmer-Labour Group and was kno ...

leadership race. Before entering the leadership race, he served as the president of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.

Early life and career

Pedersen was raised on a family farm near

Cut Knife, Saskatchewan Cut Knife is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Highway 40, northwest of Saskatoon and west of North Battleford. The population of Cut Knife in 2011 was 517. Nearby are Poundmaker Cree Nation and Little Pine First Nation to th ...

. He attended and earned his law degree from

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

and has been a Regina lawyer for over 20 years, specializing in work with individual families and small to mid-size businesses. He has been the chair of the Taxation section of the Canadian Bar Association in Regina and also the president of the Regina Business Association. He also served on the board of directors for Saskatchewan Express (musical theatre group) and for The Royal Lifesaving Society (Saskatchewan Branch).

Political career

Pedersen was the NDP candidate in the constituency of Regina South in the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

provincial elections. In both elections, he placed second to the Bill Hutchinson of the

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...

. On January 22, 2009, Pedersen announced his bid to succeed

Lorne Calvert Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) is a Canadian politician who served as the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and Member of the Legislative Assembly ...

as the leader of the Saskatchewan NDP at the party's June 2009 leadership convention. He finished third at the convention. After Deb Higgins was eliminated on the first ballot, Pedersen threw his support behind

Ryan Meili Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadian physician and former politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saska ...

, the second place finisher on the first ballot. On May 2, 2018, Pedersen won the NDP nomination for an upcoming provincial by-election in

. He won the by-election with 54% of the vote on September 12, 2018.

References

External links

Yens Pedersen Leadership website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Yens Saskatchewan New Democratic Party MLAs Politicians from Regina, Saskatchewan Living people Canadian people of Danish descent Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan