Leonard Krog

Leonard Eugene Krog is a Canadian politician and lawyer in British Columbia, who currently serves as mayor of Nanaimo. He previously served in the provincial legislature on two occasions as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), representing the riding of Parksville-Qualicum from 1991 to 1996, and the riding of Nanaimo 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 degree from the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in 1979, and was called to the bar 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 (MLA) for Parksville-Qualicum in the 1991 general election. During that term, he served as a backbencher in the Mike Harcourt NDP government. He ran for re-election in 1996 but was defeated by BC Liberal candidate Paul Reitsma. 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 Nanaimo 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, 2013 and 2017 elections, serving as opposition critic to the Attorney General. 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.