Wendy Lill
| Wendy Lill | |
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| Member of Parliament for Dartmouth |
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In office 1997–2004 |
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| Preceded by | Ron MacDonald |
| Succeeded by | Michael Savage |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 2, 1950 Vancouver |
| Political party | NDP |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Starr |
| Residence | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
| Profession | playwright, screenwriter, radio dramatist |
Wendy Lill (born November 2, 1950) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and radio dramatist 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 Awards 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.
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