Sean Devine (born June 11, 1970) is a Canadian politician, playwright, and actor. Devine currently represents Knoxdale-Merivale Ward on

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () 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 wards throughout the city. Council member ...

. 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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. From 1987 to 1989 he attended

Marianopolis College Marianopolis College is a private English-language college in the Canadian province of Quebec. Located in Westmount, Quebec, it is an anglophone college with a student body over 2,000. The General and Vocational Education College, known as a CE ...

Westmount Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...

. Afterwards, Devine studied from 1989 to 1992 at the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, ) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants awarded by the Government of Canada and cultural ...

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. On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below the office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at the Pent ...

, a

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

who self-immolated below

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

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 is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

'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 exposin ...

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. Devine's 2016 play ''Daisy'' is a political drama set during the

1964 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1964, less than a year following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, who won the previous presidential election. The Democratic Party (U ...

. 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 the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

ACT Theatre ACT Contemporary Theatre (originally A Contemporary Theatre) is a regional, non-profit theatre organization in Seattle, in the US state of Washington. Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997) founded ACT in 1965 and served as its first Artistic director; a ...

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 (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and drew further inspiration from the

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

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

University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...

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

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

, 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; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

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

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election was held on October 19, 2015, to elect the 338 members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 42nd Canadian Parliament, 42nd Parliament of Canada. In accordance with the Fixed election date ...

in Nepean. Ultimately he placed third, losing to

Chandra Arya Chandrakanth "Chandra" Arya (born 1963), an Indian-Canadian politician, served as a member of Parliament (MP) representing the riding of Nepean (Ontario) in the Canadian House of Commons from 2015 to 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, he ...

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. For example, while the political systems ...

. Devine 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 of Canada, House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The Writ of election, writs of election were issued by Governor General of ...

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

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

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

and

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

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, borough counc ...

for Knoxdale-Merivale Ward 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 Keith Egli (born January 20, 1962) was the Ottawa city councillor for Knoxdale-Merivale Ward from 2010 to 2022. He won the ward in the 2010 Ottawa municipal election, which was vacated by the retiring Gord Hunter. Background Egli was born in ...

), 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. Devine voted against "Lansdowne 2.0" project which proposed over $400 million dollars of taxpayer-funded subsidies for the redevelopment of

Lansdowne Park Lansdowne Park is a urban park, historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located on Bank Street adjacent to the Rideau Canal in The Glebe neighbourhood of central Ott ...

. The project was approved by a vote of 16 to 9. In 2024, Devine voted against reductions in the frequency of the

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

. The service reductions were ultimately approved by city council.

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, eas ...

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 the surface of 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, although the ...

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 organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

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 municipal councillors 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