Jamie Swift is a Canadian journalist, author, and activist. His body of work has focused largely on issues of social justice, economy, environment, globalization, and politics. Swift was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 thirtee ...

where, in 1968, he pursued a degree in African Studies at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. Upon moving to Toronto in the mid-seventies, Swift became involved in the social activist community and subsequently began his writing career. In 1977, he published his first book, ''The Big Nickel: Inco at home and abroad'', which examined the effect of nickel production in third world countries. Over the course of his career, Swift has been published in numerous journals and newspapers, including ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', ''

The Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', '' The Kingston Whig Standard'', and ''

Briarpatch ''Briarpatch'' is an independent alternative news magazine based in Saskatchewan, Canada and distributed across Canada and internationally. ''Briarpatch'' is published six times a year by Briarpatch Incorporated, an independent non-profit organi ...

''. Throughout the 1990s, he was a regular contributor on CBC's radio series ''

Ideas In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being ...

''. Most recently, Swift has co-written a book with noted Canadian historian

Ian McKay Ian John McKay, VC (7 May 1953 – 12 June 1982) was a British Army soldier and a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Bor ...

entitled ''Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety'', released in May 2012. He currently lectures at the

Queen's School of Business Smith School of Business (formerly Queen's School of Business) is a business school affiliated with Queen's University at Kingston. It is located at the university's Goodes Hall. Since July 2021, the school's dean has been Wanda Costen. The Scho ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

Awards

In 1996, Swift was awarded the

Michener-Deacon Fellowship The Michener Award is one of the highest distinctions in Canadian journalism. The award was founded in 1970 by Roland Michener, who was Governor General of Canada at the time, and his wife Norah. The idea for the award was developed in 1969 with Bi ...

for Public Service Journalism. He received the award from Governor General

Roméo LeBlanc Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc (December 18, 1927June 24, 2009) was a Canadian journalist, politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation. LeBlanc was born and educated in New Brunswick, and also ...

in a ceremony on May 6, 1996 at

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main b ...

in Ottawa. R

Selected works

''The Big Nickel: Inco at Home and Abroad'' (1977)
''Cut and Run: The Assault on Canada's Forests'' (1983)
''Conflicts of Interest: Canada and the Third World'' (1991)
''Wheel of Fortune: Work and Life in the Age of Falling Expectations'' (1995)
''Civil Society in Question'' (1999)
''Getting Started on Social Analysis in Canada, Fourth Edition'' (2003)
''Walking the Union Walk: Stories from the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union'' (2003)
''Hydro: The Decline and Fall of Ontario's Electric Empire'' (2004)
''Persistent Poverty: Voices from the Margins'' (2010)
''Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety'' (2012)

References

External links

Between the Lines Books: Our Story

Swift, Jamie."A shock to the system." ''The Globe and Mail''. Jan. 25, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Jamie Anglophone Quebec people Canadian radio journalists Journalists from Montreal Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian newspaper journalists