Susan Thompson (politician)

Susan Thompson (born March 2, 1979, Camrose, Alberta) is a social democratic Canadian politician. She ran as the NDP candidate in the federal riding of Peace River in northern Alberta in 2004, increasing the NDP vote in the area to 11%, after moving to the town of Peace River in 2000. On May 15, 2005, she was officially nominated as the federal NDP candidate in the upcoming federal election.

Thompson first became involved in politics as an activist. She volunteered and later worked as an e-mail bulletin editor for the influential U.S. advocacy organization [http://www.moveon.org MoveOn.org] . After resigning that position, Thompson founded Vive le Canada in 2003, a progressive web-based organization aimed at fostering discussion of and opposition to "deep integration" between Canada and the United States and protecting and improving Canadian sovereignty and democracy. "Vive le Canada" is best-known for opposing the award of a 2006 Canadian census contract to U.S. military contractor Lockheed Martin. Thompson's work in non-profits and advocacy organizations led to the introduction of two motions to the House of Commons prior to her first election bid with the NDP.

In addition to her political career, Thompson works as a freelance writer, mainly writing on social issues. She has written regularly for the weekly agricultural paper the "Peace Country Sun", as well as publishing feature articles in magazines including "Northwest Business", "AlbertaViews", and "Canadian Dimension". Thompson also co-owns a portable welding company, Hell 'N' Back Welding, with her husband Doug Thompson, a welder and artist.

She has a B.A. First Class Honours in English from the University of Calgary, where she completed a four year degree in three years.

External links

* http://www.vivelecanada.ca