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Sean Devine (playwright)

Sean Devine
Ottawa City Councillor
Assumed office
November 15, 2022[1]
Preceded byKeith Egli
ConstituencyKnoxdale-Merivale Ward
Personal details
Born (1970-06-11) June 11, 1970 (age 54)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
New Democratic Party
SpouseAlexa Devine
Children4
Residence(s)Trend-Arlington, Ottawa
Alma materNational Theatre School of Canada
Marianopolis College
OccupationPlaywright, actor, politician

Sean Devine (born June 11, 1970) is a Canadian politician, playwright, and actor. Devine currently represents Knoxdale-Merivale Ward on Ottawa City Council. His artistic career has spanned over three decades, including playwriting and directing, as well as acting roles on film and television. He has appeared in over twenty films and more than a dozen TV series.

Early life and education

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Devine was born on June 11, 1970, in Montreal, Quebec. From 1987 to 1989 he attended Marianopolis College in Westmount. Afterwards, Devine studied from 1989 to 1992 at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Drama career

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Devine served as the artistic director of Horseshoes and Handgrenades Theatre Company between 2004 and 2019.

Devine's 2011 play Re:Union was based on the real-life story of Norman Morrison, a Baltimore Quaker who self-immolated below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office in 1965. The play imagines a meeting between Morrison's daughter Emily and Robert McNamara.[2] First produced in 2011, it was published by Scirocco Drama in 2013. At Ottawa's Magnetic North Theatre Festival in 2015, Re:Union won the Prix Rideau Award for Ottawa's Best Production.

Devine's next play, Except in the Unlikely Event of War, premiered in 2013, was a political drama and satire which discusses war and government manipulation of the media. It draws inspiration from The Report from Iron Mountain, a satirical book which asserted that the United States government believed war was necessary to maintain its power.[3][4]

Devine's 2016 play Daisy is a political drama set during the 1964 United States presidential election. The play depicts the events surrounding the presidential election and the controversial 'Daisy' advertisement of Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign.[5] Daisy premiered at Seattle's ACT Theatre in 2016. The play received the Broadway World Seattle Critic's Choice Award for Best New Play and was nominated for a Gregory Award for Best New Play. It was later published as a book by Talonbooks in 2017.

Devine's play, titled When There's Nothing Left to Burn was released in 2017. The play was by the events of the 2014 Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, and drew further inspiration from the 2012 Quebec student protests. It depicts ordinary citizens living in the midst of violent political upheaval.[6][7] The play won the University of Lethbridge's Fiction at Fifty competition.[8]

In 2017, Devine took a position with the Canada Council for the Arts, a federal government institution dedicated to funding the arts.

Politics

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In 2015, Devine won the nomination for the New Democratic Party over PIPSC negotiator Denise Doherty-Delorme to represent the party in the 2015 Canadian federal election in Nepean.[9] Ultimately he placed third, losing to Chandra Arya of the Liberal Party. Devine's was again the NDP's candidate in Nepean in the 2021 Canadian federal election and focused on establishing relationships with communities who felt ignored by Arya such as the Tamil, Punjabi and Sikh members. On this occasion he again placed third, although he received twice the number of votes he had in 2015.[10]

Devine was successfully elected as city councillor for Knoxdale-Merivale Ward in the 2022 Ottawa municipal election, defeating real-estate agent James Dean, Myles Egli (brother of retiring incumbent Keith Egli), and conservative writer Joseph Ben-Ami. Devine's campaign emphasized the need for civility at city hall, improved public transit, and better natural disaster preparedness.[11]

Personal life

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Devine resides in the Trend-Arlington neighbourhood of Ottawa with his wife and four children. He previously served as the president of the Trend-Arlington Community Association. During his presidency, Trend-Arlington was severely affected by a tornado in 2018. Under Devine's leadership, the Community Association organized recovery efforts and received awards from the mayor's office and United Way for their work.[12][13]

Selected filmography

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Televeision series

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Year Title Role
2017 The Disappearance Stephen Price
2014 Intruders Bill Anderson
2013 The Haunting Hour: The Series Mr. Franklin
2013 The Killing Dr. Andrew Newman
2012 Arctic Air Rudy
2008 Supernatural Gus
2007 Dragon Boys Motel Manager
2006 Whistler Mack
2006 Godiva's Ben
2006 Masters of Horror Hunter
2005-2007 The 4400 P.J.
2004 Cold Squad Dr. Alvin Whitehead
2003 Da Vinci's Inquest Michael
2002 Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension Bala & Dr. Darger
2001 Mysterious Ways Scott Krotenko
1998 The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo Rawls
1997-1998 Lassie Officer Burdick

Film

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Year Title Role
2013 Midnight Stallion Donald Dupree
2011 Knockout Jacob Miller
2010 Territories Walter Sotos
2009 Kick Me Down Gene
2001 XChange Rix
2000 The Whole Nine Yards Sgt. Buchanan
1999 Dead Silent Dakins
1999 The Last Breath Hammer
1999 Perpetrators of the Crime Ed
1999 Quand je serai parti... vous vivrez encore Major Denny

Television films

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Year Title Role
2018 Mommy's Little Angel Doyle
2017 Killer Mom Detective Peters
2003 Wicked Minds Julien
2002 The Rendering Kip
2001 The Royal Scandal Timothy Carter
2001 Heart: The Marilyn Bell Story Hindmarsh
2000 Race Against Time Kilroy the Bounty Hunter
2000 Task Force Pierre Bluteau
1999 Revenge of the Land James McCann

Electoral record

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2022 Ottawa municipal election: Knoxdale-Merivale Ward
Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes % ±%
Sean Devine 4,812 39.20
James Dean 2,564 20.89 +1.05
Myles Egli 2,051 16.71
Joseph Ben-Ami 1,426 11.62
Michael Wood 1,228 10.00
Peter Westaway 118 0.96
Peter Anthony Weber 77 0.63 -1.99
Total valid votes 12,276 97.47
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 318 2.53
Turnout 12,594 45.55
Eligible voters 27,650
Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.)
and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources:


2021 Canadian federal election: Nepean
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Chandra Arya 29,620 45.1 -0.8 $109,271.27
Conservative Matt Triemstra 22,184 33.7 +0.2 $75,325.90
New Democratic Sean Devine 10,786 16.4 +3.3 $12,498.65
People's Jay Nera 1,840 2.8 +1.8 $0.00
Green Gordon Kubanek 1,318 2.0 -4.3 $786.11
Total valid votes/Expense limit 65,748 $121,196.92
Total rejected ballots 419
Turnout 66,167 70.85
Eligible voters 93,391
Source: Elections Canada[14]
2015 Canadian federal election: Nepean
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Chandra Arya 34,017 52.42 +25.32 $180,234.39
Conservative Andy Wang 23,442 36.13 -14.89 $160,893.69
New Democratic Sean Devine 5,324 8.20 -9.62 $23,472.19
Green Jean-Luc Roger Cooke 1,513 2.33 -1.70 $14,291.13
Independent Jesus Cosico 416 0.64
Independent Hubert Mamba 69 0.11 $1,309.19
Independent Harry Splett 66 0.10
Marxist–Leninist Tony Seed 41 0.06
Total valid votes/Expense limit 64,888 100.00   $219,121.45
Total rejected ballots 262 0.40
Turnout 65,150 78.52
Eligible voters 82,976
Liberal notional gain from Conservative Swing +20.10
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ "Mark Sutcliffe laces up for new political marathon". CTV Ottawa. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  2. ^ Colenbrander, Ariane (October 24, 2011). "Reviewed: Sean Devine's Re:Union". vancouverscape.com. VancouverScape. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  3. ^ "Except In The Unlikely Event of War". DHNews. December 19, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  4. ^ Thomas, Colin (November 18, 2013). "Except in the Unlikely Event of War overflows with intelligence and wit". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  5. ^ Saxburg, Lynn (December 3, 2021). "Theatre review: Daisy is wordy but well-paced chronicle of manipulative advertising". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  6. ^ Fominoff, Lara (November 1, 2017). ""When There's Nothing Left To Burn" portrays lives of those caught in violent political conflict". Lethbridge News Now. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  7. ^ Kiriakopoulos, Rebecca (April 14, 2018). "The Gladstone set to stage Ottawa playwright's dark political drama". Centretown News. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  8. ^ "Drama Mainstage - When There's Nothing Left to Burn by Sean Devine". University of Lethbridge. University of Lethbridge. 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  9. ^ Seymour, Andrew (August 19, 2015). "The Gargoyle: NDP chooses Sean Devine in Nepean". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  10. ^ "Liberal candidate Chandra Arya secures third straight win in Nepean riding". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  11. ^ "Sean Devine will fill Knoxdale-Merivale's seat at the council table". CBC News. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Trend Arlington Community Association receives Mayor's City Builder Award". March 27, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  13. ^ @DevineSean (15 May 2019). "I'm very proud that I'll be accepting a Community Builder of the Year Award tomorrow from @UnitedWayOttawa" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  15. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Nepean, 30 September 2015
  16. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates