She worked for Manitoba Hydro as an engineering aide for 20 years, designing and drafting electrical substations and control circuitry.
[1] Nelson has written for several media outlets, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Manitoba Co-operator and the Herald Leader Press.
She won the 2002 Eric and Jack Wells Award for Excellence in Journalism, and has participated in several arts festivals in Winnipeg.
Nelson advocated reaching out to older and more conservative Manitoba residents, rather than relying on left-wing campus activists for the party's membership.
[4] She wrote again the construction of a new Winnipeg slaughterhouse in December 2005, arguing that such enterprises routinely injure young workers and do not provide economic benefits to their host communities.