Lenore Zann

Lenore Zann (born November 22, 1959) is a Canadian actress and politician. She represented Truro-Bible Hill district in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2009 until 2019 as a New Democrat, and then represented Cumberland—Colchester in the Canadian House of Commons from 2019 to 2021 as a Liberal. As an actress, Zann is known for providing the voice of Rogue in various X-Men series and games.

Life and career Zann was born on November 22, 1959, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the daughter of Janice, a high school teacher, and Paul Zann, a professor. Her great-grandfather, named Zaninovich (Zaninović), came to Australia from Croatia.

She emigrated with her parents to Canada in 1968,

In 2008 she started a community campaign to restore a historic former academic building in downtown Truro, Provincial Normal College, into a cultural centre. She raised $62,000 for a feasibility study following which the four-story, 24,000-square-foot provincially designated Victorian brick building was repurposed to become the centre point of downtown Truro – the town's new Central Colchester Regional Library, with a skating rink in front during winter months.

Political career

Provincial politics She represented Truro-Bible Hill district in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2009 until 2019 as a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party and from June 9, 2019, until September 12, 2019, as an independent.

On April 8, 2009, Zann won the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party nomination in the riding of Truro-Bible Hill in anticipation of the 2009 provincial election. On the same day, an employee of the Liberal Party leaked a topless photo of her to the media from her appearance in The L Word. Zann was elected in the 2009 provincial election. and served as the ministerial assistant for the Department of Tourism, Culture, and Heritage.

During her first four years as a backbencher in the first NDP government in Nova Scotia, Zann was appointed ministerial assistant for three positions: culture & heritage, environment & climate change, and deputy premier – unsuccessfully working to reinstate the Nova Scotia Arts Council and improve the film tax credit for the film and TV industry.

As a first-time opposition member, Zann has been NDP spokesperson for education, environment, status of women, Human Rights Commission, Aboriginal affairs & truth & reconciliation, agriculture, advanced education, African NS affairs, and Gaelic affairs.

During her ten years as MLA, she introduced two successful bills. Bill 90 amended the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Commission Act to increase the size of the board of directors to ten. Bill 74 changed the name of the new electoral district of Truro–Bible Hill to Truro–Bible Hill–Millbrook–Salmon River.

She was subsequently re-elected in the 2013 provincial election to represent the reconfigured electoral district, now called Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River.

In that election, the NDP was reduced to seven seats in the legislature and third-party status. Zann served as the NDP critic for Aboriginal affairs, community culture and heritage, community services, education, Human Rights Commission / status of women, and seniors and disabled.

Zann introduced bill 111, the Environmental Racism Prevention Act, addressing the issue of environmental racism in Nova Scotia. The bill was not considered by the house.

On June 12, 2015, Zann announced her bid for the leadership of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party. On February 27, 2016, Zann was defeated in her leadership bid, losing to Gary Burrill on the second ballot.

She sat as an independent member in Nova Scotia's legislature as she sought the nomination for the 2019 federal election.

Federal politics She served as a Liberal in the 43rd Canadian Parliament, after winning the Cumberland—Colchester seat in the 2019 federal election.

On June 9, 2019, Zann announced she would seek the Liberal nomination to succeed retiring Liberal MP Bill Casey in Cumberland—Colchester for the 2019 federal election. She chose to leave the NDP for the Liberals because she believed the Liberals stood a better chance of winning. She sat as an independent member in Nova Scotia's legislature as she sought the nomination.

She resigned her provincial seat on September 12.

She was elected to serve as the Cumberland-Colchester MP in October 2019.

She introduced one private member bill, Bill C-230, An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to redress environmental racism which sought to require the Minister of the Environment to develop a national strategy that would examine the link between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk. It was brought to a vote on March 24, 2021, and advanced to committee stage with Liberal, NDP and Green Party members voting in favour. However, the Parliament ended before the bill was brought up for a third reading.

In the 2021 federal election Zann lost her seat to Conservative candidate Stephen Ellis.

Electoral record Federal

Provincial New Democratic Party Lenore Zann

Progressive Conservative Keltie Jones

Liberal Craig Johnson

New Democratic Party Lenore Zann

Liberal Barry J. Mellish

Progressive Conservative Charles Cox

New Democratic Party Lenore Zann

Progressive Conservative Hughie MacIsaac

Liberal Bob Hagell

Filmography

Film (live-action) Year Film Role Notes 1980 Hounds of Notre Dame Lila Petrie 1981 Happy Birthday to Me Maggie 1981 Black Mirror Julie 1982 Visiting Hours Lisa 1982 Murder by Phone Connie Lawson 1983 American Nightmare Tina 1984 That's My Baby! Sally 1985 Def-Con 4 J.J. 1985 Return Susan 1986 One Night Only Anne McGraw 1987 Prettykill Carrie 1987 The Girl Viveka 1988 Something About Love Sylvia 1989 The Amityville Curse Unknown Direct-to-video 1990 Back Stab Unknown 1993 Change of Heart Carmen 1994 Boozecan Sunny 1994 Cold Sweat Ghost 1995 Johnston... Johnston Queen Bee Short film 1996 Natural Enemy Gina Knox Direct-to-video 1998 Babyface Margaret 2007 Dirty Laundry Linda Short film 2008 Favorite Son Unknown 2010 Trigger Beebee 2014 Becoming Marilyn! Herself Documentary 2020 Stage Mother Bevette

Film (animated) Year Title Role Note 1991 Tooth Fairy, Where Are You? Dottie Television film 1999 Makai Tenshô: The Armageddon Queen Kasuga 2003 Rescue Heroes: The Movie Wendy Waters