Holly Nelson is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

writer, poet, activist and print reporter. She served as leader of the

Green Party of Manitoba The Green Party of Manitoba (GPM; ) is a Green politics, green provincial political party in Manitoba, Canada, founded on November 11, 1998. The party is legally autonomous from the Green Party of Canada, though for several years many of its mem ...

from 2005 to 2006.

Early life and career

Nelson was born in

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, the daughter of electrical engineer Forrest Nelson and poet Natalie Nelson. She has lived in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

since 1973, taking Canadian citizenship in 1980. She worked for

Manitoba Hydro The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (), operating as Manitoba Hydro, is the electric power and natural gas public utility, utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba ...

as an engineering aide for 20 years, designing and drafting electrical substations and control circuitry. She left this position to study journalism at

Red River College Red River College Polytechnic (RRC Polytech) is a college located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province's largest institute of applied learning and applied research, with over 200 degree, diploma, and certificate programs, and more ...

Writer

Nelson has written for several media outlets, including the ''

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

'', 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 Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. Her first publication is a 2004 poetry compilation, ''All These Stars...and Me With No Bucket''.

Green Party leader

Nelson joined the Green Party of Manitoba in 2003, and was acclaimed as its leader at the party's annual meeting in November 2005. The position had been vacant since March, when

Markus Buchart Markus Buchart is a lawyer and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was the first leader of the Green Party of Manitoba, serving from 1999 until his resignation in March 2005. Early life and private career Buchart has a Bachelor of Arts degree fr ...

resigned as the result of ongoing divisions within the party. Nelson advocated reaching out to older and more conservative Manitoba residents, rather than relying on left-wing campus activists for the party's membership. She also advocated

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

, and said that the Greens would only run candidates in a small number of ridings in the next election. She wrote again the construction of a new Winnipeg

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

in December 2005, arguing that such enterprises routinely injure young workers and do not provide economic benefits to their host communities.Holly Nelson, "Send slaughterhouse packing", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 3 December 2005, A15. Nelson resigned as party leader in September 2006, having accepted an out-of-province position. She has never campaigned for public office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Holly 21st-century Canadian poets Journalists from Manitoba Canadian women journalists Canadian women poets Female Canadian political party leaders American emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada People from Mankato, Minnesota Year of birth missing (living people) Women in Manitoba politics Leaders of the Green Party of Manitoba Living people Red River College alumni 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women non-fiction writers Poets from Manitoba