Premier John Horgan will be in Nanaimo today to make an announcement about the upcoming vacancy in that constituency.
Citizens are waiting to learn the date for the byelection and for details on the riding’s nomination plans.
Horgan’s announcement is set for 10 a.m. in the Coast Bastion Hotel.
NDP MLA Leonard Krog is stepping down after winning the race for mayor of Nanaimo in Saturday’s municipal election. The new council will be sworn in on Nov. 5.
Krog said Tuesday that he will attend Wednesday’s announcement.
He has been on unpaid leave since the municipal election campaign started on Sept. 22.
Krog said he will probably stay on unpaid leave until the end of the current legislature session, which will likely be when he resigns his seat. The end of the session is tentatively set for Nov. 29.
The NDP, with 41 seats, is serving as government because it has the support of the B.C. Green Party, which has three seats.
The B.C. Liberals have 42 seats.
Krog said he is confident that Nanaimo is a safe NDP seat.
Nanaimo has a long history of NDP respresentation.
The late Dave Stupich was first elected in Nanaimo (once known as Nanaimo and the Islands) in the early 1960s.
Frank Ney won the riding in 1969-1972 for the Social Credit party.
Stupich was re-elected in 1972 and it remained an NDP riding until 2001, when Liberal Mike Hunter was elected.
He served one term until 2005, when Krog was elected in the riding.
Krog was MLA for Parksville-Qualicum from 1991 to 1996.
