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 na ...

from 2018 to 2020 representing the constituency of

Regina Northeast Regina Northeast is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. This district includes the neighbourhoods of Parkridge, Uplands, Glencairn and Glencairn Village. The district was created in 1967 out ...

. He is a former candidate in the

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It currently forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s. Th ...

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 located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Highway 40, northwest of Saskatoon and 55 km (34 miles) west of North Battleford. The population of Cut Knife in 2011 was 517. Nearby are Poundmaker Cree Nation and Li ...

. 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. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall La ...

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 Regina South was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. Originally created for the 15th Saskatchewan general election in 1964, this constituency changed boundaries and names many times. It was diss ...

in the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party is a centre-right political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Since 2007, it has been the province's governing party; both the party and the province are currently led by Premier Scott Moe. The party was esta ...

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

Lorne Calvert Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter. Ear ...

as the leader of the Saskatchewan NDP at the party's June 2009 leadership convention. He finished third at the convention. After

Deb Higgins Debra Elaine Higgins is a Canadian politician. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the constituency of Moose Jaw Wakamow from 1999 to 2011 and served as the mayor of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan from 2012 to 2016. Polit ...

was eliminated on the first ballot, Pedersen threw his support behind

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

, 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)