[1] Dobbie was a publisher before entering political life, and was a founder of Association Publications Ltd. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.
[5][6] Dobbie supported Jean Charest's bid to succeed Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as Progressive Conservative leader in 1993 (Winnipeg Free Press, 11 June 1993), and retained her own nomination for the next federal election over a challenge from Charles Maximilian (Winnipeg Free Press, 16 March 1993).
Dobbie lost her candidate's deposit, receiving 6,432 votes (12.29%) for a third-place finish against Liberal Reg Alcock.
After Charest's resignation as Progressive Conservative Party leader in 1998, she endorsed former prime minister Joe Clark in his successful bid to succeed him (Toronto Star, 29 June 1998).
[7] When Sinclair Stevens, another former Progressive Conservative MP, launched an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit to try to block the merger, Dobbie was one of eleven other party members who openly backed the Affidavit.