Sean Devine (born June 11, 1970) is a Canadian politician, playwright, and actor. Devine currently represents

Knoxdale-Merivale Ward Knoxdale-Merivale (Ward 9) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario. Located in the city's west end, the ward is bordered to the east by the Rideau River and Fisher Avenue, the northern boundaries of the community of Barrhaven to the south, Ontario High ...

Ottawa City Council The Ottawa City Council (french: Conseil municipal d'Ottawa) is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents war ...

. 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

Devine was born on June 11, 1970 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

. From 1987 to 1989 he attended

Marianopolis College , mottoeng = "Under the Guidance of Mary" , established = 1908 , type = Private college , endowment = , director = Mr. Christian Corno , provost = E ...

in Westmount. Afterwards, Devine studied from 1989 to 1992 at the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, french: École nationale de théâtre du Canada) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants ...

Drama career

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 Norman R. Morrison (December 29, 1933 – November 2, 1965) was an American anti-war activist best known for his act of self-immolation at age 31 to protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War. On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himsel ...

, a

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

who self-immolated below

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the ...

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be sim ...

office in 1965. The play imagines a meeting between Morrison's daughter Emily and Robert McNamara. First produced in 2011, it was published by Scirocco Drama in 2013. At

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

’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 Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...

which discusses war and government manipulation of the media. It draws inspiration from The Report from Iron Mountain, a satricial book which asserted that the United States government believed war was necessary to maintain its power. Devine's 2016 play ''Daisy'' is a political drama set during the

1964 United States presidential election The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nomi ...

. The play depicts the events surrounding the presidential election and the controversial 'Daisy' advertisement of Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign. ''Daisy'' premiered at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

'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 The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, and drew further inspiration from the

2012 Quebec student protests The 2012 Quebec student protests (movement) were a series of student protests led by student unions such as the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, and the Fédéra ...

. It depicts ordinary citizens living in the midst of violent political upheaval. The play won the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Weas ...

's Fiction at Fifty competition. In 2017, Devine took a position with the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

, a federal government institution dedicated to funding the arts.

Politics

In 2015, Devine won the nomination for the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

over PIPSC negotiator Denise Doherty-Delorme to represent the party in the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election held on October 19, 2015, saw the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, win 184 seats, allowing it to form a majority government with Trudeau becoming the next prime minister. The election was held to elect ...

Nepean Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, **Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, **Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria *Nepean Island (Norfolk Island) ...

. Ultimately he placed third, losing to

Chandra Arya Chandrakanth "Chandra" Arya (born 1963) is an Indian-born-Canadian Liberal politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Nepean in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election and subsequently re-elected in the 2019 ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Devine's was again the NDP's candidate in Nepean in the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The writs of election were issued by Governor General Mary Simon on August 15, 2021, when Prime Min ...

and focused on establishing relationships with communities who felt ignored by Arya such as the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

and

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

members. On this occasion he again placed third, although he received twice the number of votes he had in 2015. Devine was successfully elected as

city councillor A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

for

in the

2022 Ottawa municipal election The 2022 Ottawa municipal election was held on Monday, October 24, 2022, to elect a Mayor of Ottawa, mayor, Ottawa City Council, city councillors, and trustees to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, English and Conseil des écoles publiq ...

, 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.

Personal life

Devine resides in the

Trend-Arlington Trend-Arlington is a suburban neighbourhood in Knoxdale-Merivale Ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The neighbourhood is located with in the former City of Nepean in the west end of the city. It is located west of Greenbank Road, east ...

neighbourhood of

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 A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

in 2018. Under Devine's leadership, the Community Association organized recovery efforts and received awards from the mayor's office and

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

for their work.

Selected filmography

Televeision series

Film

Television films

Electoral record

, - !rowspan="2" colspan="2", Candidate !colspan="3", Popular vote !rowspan="2" colspan="2", Expenditures , - ! Votes ! % ! ±% , - , style="background-color:#E01F5B;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Sean Devine , style="text-align:right;" , 4,812 , style="text-align:right;" , 39.20 , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:#5EA454;" , , style="text-align:left;" , James Dean , style="text-align:right;" , 2,564 , style="text-align:right;" , 20.89 , style="text-align:right;" , +1.05 , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFF101;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Myles Egli , style="text-align:right;" , 2,051 , style="text-align:right;" , 16.71 , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:#202693;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Joseph Ben-Ami , style="text-align:right;" , 1,426 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.62 , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:#442565;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Michael Wood , style="text-align:right;" , 1,228 , style="text-align:right;" , 10.00 , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:#abdfb9;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Peter Westaway , style="text-align:right;" , 118 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.96 , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Peter Anthony Weber , style="text-align:right;" , 77 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.63 , style="text-align:right;" , -1.99 , style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" , Total valid votes , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 12,276 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 97.47 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#c2c2c2;" colspan="2" , , - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" , Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 318 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 2.53 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#c2c2c2;" colspan="2" , , - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" , Turnout , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 12,594 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 45.55 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , , style="text-align:right;background-color:#c2c2c2;" , , - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" , Eligible voters , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , 27,650 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#c2c2c2;" colspan="3" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="6" , 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. , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="13" , Sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devine, Sean 1970 births Living people 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian politicians Anglophone Quebec people National Theatre School of Canada alumni 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male television actors Canadian male film actors Male actors from Montreal Male actors from Ottawa Politicians from Montreal Politicians from Ottawa Writers from Montreal Writers from Ottawa Canadian theatre directors Canadian actor-politicians New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Ontario candidates for Member of Parliament Ottawa city councillors