She graduated from Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, received a Bachelor of Science degree from Queen's University in 1968, and worked overseas for a few years in development programs.
There was a strong reaction against this decision, and she reversed her position after what the Kingston Whig-Standard described as "many vicious hate calls".
[4] As mayor, Cooper initiated a Community Economic Advisory Committee which helped establish a civic airport building and a Technology Transfer Centre for Queen's University.
Cooper returned to political life in early 1997, when she campaigned for the federal Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding of Kingston and the Islands.
Although considered a star candidate, she finished a distant second against Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken in the 1997 federal election.
[9] Cooper remained active in the Progressive Conservative Party after her defeat, and supported Hugh Segal's bid for the leadership in 1998.
[10] In 2000, she spoke at a gravesite ceremony honouring the legacy of John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister and a longtime Kingston resident.