Wendy Lill
Encyclopedia
Wendy Lill is an award-winning Canadian
playwright
, screenwriter
and radio drama
tist who served as an NDP
Member of Parliament
from 1997 to 2004. Her stage plays have been performed extensively in theatres across Canada as well as internationally in such countries as Scotland, Denmark and Germany. Many of the plays explore the divide between the powerful and the oppressed, exploring, for example, the racism and abuse suffered by Canada's indigenous peoples, the plight of the handicapped, child sexual abuse and the struggle for women's rights. Four of her plays were nominated for Governor General's Awards. Sisters, which dramatizes the human devastation caused by a convent-run, native residential school, received the Labatt's Canadian Play Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival. Lill's adaptation of Sisters for television earned her a Gemini Award
in 1992.
Before writing her first produced play, On the Line, based on a strike by female garment workers in Manitoba
, Lill worked as a journalist, documentary-maker and dramatist for CBC Radio
in Winnipeg
. Among other things, she covered a paper mill strike in Kenora, Ontario
and produced documentaries for Our Native Land, a national, weekly program about Canada's indigenous peoples. Her documentary Who is George Forest? and her radio drama Shorthanded won ACTRA Award
s in 1981. Her screenplay Ikwe, about Métis women, was part of a National Film Board
series which received a Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival in 1986.
During her seven years as a Member of Parliament, Lill served as her party's culture and communications critic as well as its advocate for human rights, children and youth, and people living with disabilities. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage where she contributed to the recommendations that resulted from three major studies: the federal government's role in supporting arts and culture; the state of the Canadian book publishing industry in an era of big-box retailers and declining independent bookstores; and, the importance of public and private broadcasting in protecting Canada's cultural sovereignty.
In the fall of 2003, Lill announced that she would not be running in the next federal election. She revealed that she had been suffering from the effects of multiple sclerosis
for the past three years.
, British Columbia
, the daughter of Edwin Henry Lill and Margaret Galbraith Gordon. Her family moved to London, Ontario
when she was five. She received a BA in Political Science from York University
in 1971. After graduation, she toured Europe, worked as a cocktail waitress and began writing poetry. Anxious to get away from Toronto, Lill moved north to Kenora, Ontario
in 1977 where she worked as a mental health consultant. "That was a silly job for me because I had no experience and I wasn't that type of person," Lill told an interviewer later. "But I did it for six months, basically trying to ascertain whether a Canadian Mental Health Association
would be useful in Northern Ontario. Well, that's sort of like saying, 'Would an aspirin be useful in Bangladesh
?'" Lill concluded there were already 44 associations in Kenora, none of them effective in dealing with the socio-economic problems that resulted in alcoholism and violence.
After quitting her mental health job, Lill began working for a native newspaper, flying to remote reserves where she "spent a lot of time sleeping on floors in nursing stations." Her experiences in northwestern Ontario changed her life. "I began to see the whole level of community relationships between natives and whites in the north, and the historical abuse of power, the racism," she told a journalist in 1998. "It was the first time I had ever seen that, and I was shocked." At age 26, Lill began writing stories based on her experiences—stories that would later form the basis for her one-woman play, The Occupation of Heather Rose.
Lill also worked as a journalist for CBC Radio in Winnipeg before moving to the Manitoba capital in 1979 where she produced radio documentaries for Our Native Land, a national, CBC Radio program about Canada's indigenous peoples. One of her documentaries, Who is George Forest? won an ACTRA Award in 1981. Her radio drama, Shorthanded also won an ACTRA that same year.
In 1982, her first play, On the Line was staged in Winnipeg. It was based on a strike by immigrant women working in the garment industry and has been variously described as one-sided and propagandistic. According to one account, Lill's businessman father suggested that in successful drama, even the villains have to be real, a piece of advice that she apparently took to heart.
Lill met CBC producer, Richard Starr in Winnipeg and they married in 1982, moving east to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick before settling in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
where they still live with their sons Samuel and Joseph. Samuel has Down's syndrome
and both Lill and Starr are well known for their advocacy on behalf of people living with disabilities.
movement. In later years, she continued to work on behalf of the NDP doing everything from door-to-door canvassing to organizing fundraising events for the party. Alexa McDonough
, the party's federal leader asked Lill to run in the 1997 federal election. At the time, Lill had finished writing Corker, a play that shows how government spending cuts affect vulnerable people. "It's about the same theme I always write about," Lill told a local journalist, "the big divide between the elite and the street—and how if you don't like what's going on, you gotta change the world. I guess I decided it was time to see if I believed my own words."
Lill ran in Dartmouth
, a riding that contains everything from an industrial harbourfront and urban downtown to burgeoning suburban neighbourhoods and rural villages such as Cherrybrook
and the Prestons
that make up the country's oldest African-Canadian community. As she knocked on doors, Lill found voters receptive. "The voters talk to me about exactly the same things the NDP have made issues in this campaign," she said, adding that people feared for their jobs and were angry at losing government services in the cutbacks imposed by the federal Liberal government. On election day, the 46-year-old Lill surprised the pundits when she won the riding by a hefty margin of more than 2,000 votes.
Lill used her voice in the Commons to press the government on a wide range of social and cultural issues including homelessness, child poverty and the lack of a national housing program. She criticized the Liberals for slashing funding for the CBC, the country's main public broadcaster. She repeatedly called for stable, long-term CBC funding and an increased government commitment to financing the production of Canadian TV drama and entertainment programs. She urged the government to call an inquiry into the growing concentration of media ownership
, calling it a "threat to democracy." She and her party waged a successful campaign to protect a tax credit for Canadians with severe and prolonged disabilities. Lill also helped establish a parliamentary subcommittee that regularly questioned cabinet ministers on their handling of issues affecting people living with disabilities.
She also created a radio drama
loosely based on her experience, Backbencher
, which aired on CBC Radio One
in 2010. The series has been renewed by CBC for another 12 episodes, and the entire 20 episode series will be broadcast on Radio One and the Sirius network beginning in January 2011.
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...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
tist who served as an NDP
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from 1997 to 2004. Her stage plays have been performed extensively in theatres across Canada as well as internationally in such countries as Scotland, Denmark and Germany. Many of the plays explore the divide between the powerful and the oppressed, exploring, for example, the racism and abuse suffered by Canada's indigenous peoples, the plight of the handicapped, child sexual abuse and the struggle for women's rights. Four of her plays were nominated for Governor General's Awards. Sisters, which dramatizes the human devastation caused by a convent-run, native residential school, received the Labatt's Canadian Play Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival. Lill's adaptation of Sisters for television earned her a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
in 1992.
Before writing her first produced play, On the Line, based on a strike by female garment workers in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Lill worked as a journalist, documentary-maker and dramatist for CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. Among other things, she covered a paper mill strike in Kenora, Ontario
Kenora, Ontario
Kenora , originally named Rat Portage, is a small city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg...
and produced documentaries for Our Native Land, a national, weekly program about Canada's indigenous peoples. Her documentary Who is George Forest? and her radio drama Shorthanded won ACTRA Award
ACTRA Award
The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television, film and radio industry. Organized and presented by ACTRA, the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, which represented performers, writers and broadcast journalists, the Nellie statuettes...
s in 1981. Her screenplay Ikwe, about Métis women, was part of a National Film Board
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
series which received a Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival in 1986.
During her seven years as a Member of Parliament, Lill served as her party's culture and communications critic as well as its advocate for human rights, children and youth, and people living with disabilities. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage where she contributed to the recommendations that resulted from three major studies: the federal government's role in supporting arts and culture; the state of the Canadian book publishing industry in an era of big-box retailers and declining independent bookstores; and, the importance of public and private broadcasting in protecting Canada's cultural sovereignty.
In the fall of 2003, Lill announced that she would not be running in the next federal election. She revealed that she had been suffering from the effects of multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
for the past three years.
Personal life and early career
Wendy Lill was born in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, the daughter of Edwin Henry Lill and Margaret Galbraith Gordon. Her family moved to London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
when she was five. She received a BA in Political Science from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in 1971. After graduation, she toured Europe, worked as a cocktail waitress and began writing poetry. Anxious to get away from Toronto, Lill moved north to Kenora, Ontario
Kenora, Ontario
Kenora , originally named Rat Portage, is a small city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg...
in 1977 where she worked as a mental health consultant. "That was a silly job for me because I had no experience and I wasn't that type of person," Lill told an interviewer later. "But I did it for six months, basically trying to ascertain whether a Canadian Mental Health Association
Canadian Mental Health Association
The Canadian Mental Health Association was founded on January 26, 1918 by Dr. Clarence M. Hincks and Clifford W. Beers. Originally named the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, it is one of the oldest voluntary health organizations still operating in Canada.Each year, CMHA divisions...
would be useful in Northern Ontario. Well, that's sort of like saying, 'Would an aspirin be useful in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
?'" Lill concluded there were already 44 associations in Kenora, none of them effective in dealing with the socio-economic problems that resulted in alcoholism and violence.
After quitting her mental health job, Lill began working for a native newspaper, flying to remote reserves where she "spent a lot of time sleeping on floors in nursing stations." Her experiences in northwestern Ontario changed her life. "I began to see the whole level of community relationships between natives and whites in the north, and the historical abuse of power, the racism," she told a journalist in 1998. "It was the first time I had ever seen that, and I was shocked." At age 26, Lill began writing stories based on her experiences—stories that would later form the basis for her one-woman play, The Occupation of Heather Rose.
Lill also worked as a journalist for CBC Radio in Winnipeg before moving to the Manitoba capital in 1979 where she produced radio documentaries for Our Native Land, a national, CBC Radio program about Canada's indigenous peoples. One of her documentaries, Who is George Forest? won an ACTRA Award in 1981. Her radio drama, Shorthanded also won an ACTRA that same year.
In 1982, her first play, On the Line was staged in Winnipeg. It was based on a strike by immigrant women working in the garment industry and has been variously described as one-sided and propagandistic. According to one account, Lill's businessman father suggested that in successful drama, even the villains have to be real, a piece of advice that she apparently took to heart.
Lill met CBC producer, Richard Starr in Winnipeg and they married in 1982, moving east to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick before settling in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city.On April 1, 1996, the provincial...
where they still live with their sons Samuel and Joseph. Samuel has Down's syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
and both Lill and Starr are well known for their advocacy on behalf of people living with disabilities.
Member of Parliament
Lill's first formal political involvement came during the 1970s when she joined the NDP's left-wing WaffleThe Waffle
The Waffle was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, with little electoral success before it permanently disbanded in the mid-1970s...
movement. In later years, she continued to work on behalf of the NDP doing everything from door-to-door canvassing to organizing fundraising events for the party. Alexa McDonough
Alexa McDonough
Alexa Ann Shaw McDonough OC is a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Canada, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's leader in 1980...
, the party's federal leader asked Lill to run in the 1997 federal election. At the time, Lill had finished writing Corker, a play that shows how government spending cuts affect vulnerable people. "It's about the same theme I always write about," Lill told a local journalist, "the big divide between the elite and the street—and how if you don't like what's going on, you gotta change the world. I guess I decided it was time to see if I believed my own words."
Lill ran in Dartmouth
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004...
, a riding that contains everything from an industrial harbourfront and urban downtown to burgeoning suburban neighbourhoods and rural villages such as Cherrybrook
Cherrybrook, Nova Scotia
Cherrybrook is predominantly a Black community located to the north of Trunk 7 between Lake Loon and Lake Major, and just a few miles east of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia....
and the Prestons
Preston, Nova Scotia
Preston is an area in central Nova Scotia, Canada in the Halifax Regional Municipality, located on Trunk 7. The population in 2006 was 2,360 including East Preston and North Preston....
that make up the country's oldest African-Canadian community. As she knocked on doors, Lill found voters receptive. "The voters talk to me about exactly the same things the NDP have made issues in this campaign," she said, adding that people feared for their jobs and were angry at losing government services in the cutbacks imposed by the federal Liberal government. On election day, the 46-year-old Lill surprised the pundits when she won the riding by a hefty margin of more than 2,000 votes.
Culture and rights advocate
During Wendy Lill's seven years in the House of Commons, (she easily won re-election in 2000), the NDP took advantage of her background in the arts and her experience as a journalist appointing her as its critic for culture, communications and the media industries. She also served as the party's advocate for human rights, children and youth and, people living with disabilities.Lill used her voice in the Commons to press the government on a wide range of social and cultural issues including homelessness, child poverty and the lack of a national housing program. She criticized the Liberals for slashing funding for the CBC, the country's main public broadcaster. She repeatedly called for stable, long-term CBC funding and an increased government commitment to financing the production of Canadian TV drama and entertainment programs. She urged the government to call an inquiry into the growing concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
, calling it a "threat to democracy." She and her party waged a successful campaign to protect a tax credit for Canadians with severe and prolonged disabilities. Lill also helped establish a parliamentary subcommittee that regularly questioned cabinet ministers on their handling of issues affecting people living with disabilities.
Plays
Lill wrote her first play in 1979, On the Line, while still working for the CBC in Winnipeg. The play is about the strike by immigrant garment industry women workers in Winnipeg. Her next play was The Fighting Days (1985), examining the early days of the Canadian suffrage movement. Her monodrama The Occupation of Heather Rose (1987) is based on her experience in Northern Ontario. It speaks of a young white idealistic nurse who went to work on the Snake Lake Reservation. The play was nominated for a Governor General Award. Memories of You (1989) is about the controversial life of the female artist Elizabeth Smart. It was nominated for Chalmers Canadian Play Award. Sisters (1991) follows the events revolving around the burning of a residential school by a nun who worked at the school. All Fall Down (1994) is a story about the daycare worker who is charged with sexual abuse and all associated consequences.She also created a radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
loosely based on her experience, Backbencher
Backbencher (radio drama)
Backbencher is a Canadian radio drama on CBC Radio One. The series was created by Wendy Lill, and is primarily written by Lill, Ed Thomason and Dave Carley.-Premise:...
, which aired on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
in 2010. The series has been renewed by CBC for another 12 episodes, and the entire 20 episode series will be broadcast on Radio One and the Sirius network beginning in January 2011.
List of Plays
- On the Line (1979)
- The Fighting Days (1985)
- The Occupation of Heather Rose (1987)
- Memories of You (1989)
- Sisters (1991)
- All Fall Down (1994)
- The Glace Bay Miners' Museum (1996) (based on the novel by Sheldon CurrieSheldon CurrieSheldon Currie is a Canadian author, critic and professor emeritus . His books include The Glace Bay Miners' Museum, The Company Store and Down the Coaltown Road. A movie, Margaret's Museum, was based on The Glace Bay Miners' Museum. Currie was born in Reserve Mines, Cape Breton as one of five...
, which was separately adapted for the film Margaret's MuseumMargaret's MuseumMargaret's Museum is a critically acclaimed 1995 British-Canadian dark film drama, directed by Mort Ransen and based on Sheldon Currie's novel The Glace Bay Miners' Museum....
) - Corker (1999)
- Chimera (2007)