Patricia "Pat" Nelson née Black is a former provincial level politician from Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. As a member of the ruling Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

, she served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...

 for the Calgary Foothills

Calgary Foothills

Calgary-Foothills is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. It has elected 5 consecutive Progressive Conservative MLAs since its creation in 1971.-Boundary history:- Members of the Legislative Assembly :...

 electoral district from 1989 to 2004. During this time she served as a Minister in a number of portfolios: Energy, Economic Development and Tourism, Government Services, and Finance. She also served as Deputy Government House Leader and as a member of Treasury Board.

Political career

Black was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the first time in a hotly contested three way race in the 1989 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 1989

The Alberta general election of 1989 was the twenty-second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 20, 1989 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

. She won her second term in office in the 1993 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 1993

The Alberta general election of 1993 was the twenty-third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 15, 1993 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...

, winning in a landslide. Nelson won her third term in office in the 1997 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 1997

The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, again by a large majority.

Black married in 1998 and changed her last name to Nelson.

Nelson won her fourth term in office with another massive landslide victory in the 2001 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 2001

The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

.

During her years as finance minister in the governments of Premier Ralph Klein, Nelson oversaw the retirement of the Alberta provincial debt.