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Leonard Preyra was born in Mumbai, India, 1955 and is the eldest of ten siblings. His family was part of a Catholic minority at the time of rising Hindu nationalism, and the population explosion in India led to measures against large families. To provide a better life for their family and escape religious persecution, Leonard’s mother wrote a letter that was published in the Star. After it appeared, a family in Toronto offered their support, helping them immigrate to Canada in 1968.
Leonard earned a PhD in political science from Queen’s University. As a social democrat and activist, he first experienced working with human rights through his position as a research analyst for a royal commission looking into illegal activities of the RCMP. He has held teaching appointments at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
Leonard was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party and was first elected in the 2006 general election in an open seat, then named the Ministerial Assistant for the Office of Immigration in June 2009, and later appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Communities, Culture, and Heritage in 2012. Leonard was defeated when he ran for re-election in the 2013 general election.
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Created by Alston So, March 2026.