Kenzie MacNeil (2 September 1952 – 24 July 2021) was a Canadian songwriter, performer, producer and director in television, film, radio and stage, and a former

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

candidate. MacNeil completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

. He also studied at the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. T ...

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

and

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

while accompanying his parents on field work with CIDA in Africa for three years.

Biography

MacNeil was a major force behind ''The Rise and Follies of Cape Breton Island'', a satirical sketch review that ran from 1978 to 1982. The revue included songs inspired by the coal and steel industry of Cape Breton and featured local musicians. He also served as Artistic Director/Producer of the Cape Breton Music and Theatre Company, and worked as Director of the UCCB Press. Over the years he contributed to Peter Gzowski's ''This Country in the Morning'' and ''Morningside'' on CBC Radio, and on some of the most popular television shows of the time: ''Singalong Jubilee'', ''Ceilidh'', ''Tommy Hunter'', ''Ryan’s Fancy'', ''Ian Tyson'', and many others. Kenzie MacNeil also had an active theatrical career performing in productions like Tom Gallant's ''Step/Dance'' and with Gordon Pinsent in ''John and the Missus'', and was nominated for an ACTRA award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in ''Last Night in Town''. He was involved in the production of the National Film Board's ''Empty Harbours'', ''Empty Dreams'', ''12,000 Men'', and ''Scoggie''. As well, MacNeil worked as Chair of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation and helped with the creation of soundstages across the mainland and on the Island, and in particular, assisted with bringing the productions ''Pit Pony'' and ''New Waterford Girl'' to Cape Breton. MacNeil is best known for his song “The Island,” which was declared the official Cape Breton anthem in 1985. The song is a tribute to coal industry workers in Nova Scotia. According to

Men of the Deeps A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chrom ...

musical director, John O'Donnell, "the words offer a vivid demonstration that labour in Cape Breton has indeed had a deep cultural impact on the community." He also worked as a development officer with the Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development, and has been the editor and publisher of the ''Cape Bretoner'' magazine.

Politics

MacNeil ran as a

Cape Breton—Canso Cape Breton—Canso is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its population in 2011 was 75,247. It is the successor to Bras d'Or (later known as Bras d'Or� ...

in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

federal elections, coming third and second respectively behind Liberal incumbent

Rodger Cuzner Rodger Trueman Cuzner (born November 4, 1955) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Cape Breton—Canso and its predecessor, Bras d'Or—Cape Breton, from 2000 to 201 ...

. In the 2019 federal election, MacNeil ran as an independent candidate in

Sydney—Victoria Sydney—Victoria is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. It was created in 1996 from parts of Cape Breton—The Sydneys, Cape ...

, but finished in sixth place.

Personal

MacNeil died on 24 July 2021.

Electoral record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macneil, Kenzie 1952 births 2021 deaths Canadian songwriters Canadian male stage actors Canadian people of Scottish descent Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Nova Scotia candidates for Member of Parliament People from Sydney, Nova Scotia University of Botswana alumni St. Francis Xavier University alumni