Sisters, which dramatizes the human devastation caused by a convent-run, native residential school, received the Labatt's Canadian Play Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival.

Among other things, she covered a paper mill strike in Kenora, Ontario and produced documentaries for Our Native Land, a national, weekly program about Canada's indigenous peoples.

[7] During her seven years as a Member of Parliament, Lill served as her party's culture and communications critic as well as its advocate for human rights, children and youth, and people living with disabilities.

[8] She was a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage where she contributed to the recommendations that resulted from three major studies: the federal government's role in supporting arts and culture; the state of the Canadian book publishing industry in an era of big-box retailers and declining independent bookstores; and, the importance of public and private broadcasting in protecting Canada's cultural sovereignty.

[11] After quitting her mental health job, Lill began working for a native newspaper, flying to remote reserves where she "spent a lot of time sleeping on floors in nursing stations.

"I began to see the whole level of community relationships between natives and whites in the north, and the historical abuse of power, the racism," she told a journalist in 1998.

[5][12] According to one account, Lill's businessman father suggested that in successful drama, even the villains have to be real, a piece of advice that she apparently took to heart.

[4] "It's about the same theme I always write about," Lill told a local journalist, "the big divide between the elite and the street—and how if you don't like what's going on, you gotta change the world.

"[14] Lill ran in Dartmouth,[15] a riding that contains everything from an industrial harbourfront and urban downtown to burgeoning suburban neighbourhoods and rural villages such as Cherry Brook and the Prestons that make up the country's oldest African-Canadian community.

[17] During Wendy Lill's seven years in the House of Commons, the NDP took advantage of her background in the arts and her experience as a journalist appointing her as its critic for culture, communications and the media industries.

[8] Lill used her voice in the Commons to press the government on a wide range of social and cultural issues including homelessness, child poverty and the lack of a national housing program.

She repeatedly called for stable, long-term CBC funding and an increased government commitment to financing the production of Canadian TV drama and entertainment programs.

[21] Lill also helped establish a parliamentary subcommittee that regularly questioned cabinet ministers on their handling of issues affecting people living with disabilities.