Jean Swanson (born ) is a Canadian politician, anti-poverty activist, and writer in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia. She represented the left-wing

Coalition of Progressive Electors The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) is a municipal political party in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia. It has traditionally been associated with tenants, environmentalists, and the labour movement. COPE is generally gu ...

Vancouver City Council Vancouver City Council is the governing body of Vancouver, British Columbia. The council consists of a mayor and ten councillors elected to serve a four-year term. Monthly, a deputy mayor is appointed from among the councillors. The current mayo ...

as one of Vancouver's 10 at-large city councillors from 2018 to 2022.

Activism

Jean Swanson is a coordinator of Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP), an organization dedicated to the welfare of the

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...

, one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods. She believes that "The way to 'revitalize' (the) community would be to restore purchasing power to the low-income residents who live (there): Raise welfare rates, end the barriers to getting on welfare and boost the minimum wage." Swanson also founded and works with the group End Legislated Poverty, a British Columbia coalition with stated aims to "educate and organize in order to make governments reduce and end poverty"."News Release: Carleton University's Kroeger College Announces 2007 Winners of the Arthur Kroeger Awards", March 28, 2007 quoted a

/ref> In the 1980s, Swanson worked with the BC Solidarity Coalition, as well as Vancouver's

Downtown Eastside Residents Association The Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) was a non-profit society in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, operating from 1973 until 2010. The association was founded by Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies, Jean Swanson, University of Victoria ...

(DERA). She was also previous national chair of the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO), and Swanson is also the author of ''Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion''.

Awards and recognition

In 2016, she was inducted into the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

, Canada's highest civilian honour, with the grade of member. Swanson was also the recipient of the 2007

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

Kroeger College Award for Citizenship and Community Affairs, an award recognizing "creativity, persistence, and overall leadership in demonstrating the value of a locally based initiative." Swanson was chosen for the award "for her tireless work against poverty in Canada. (She) is a private individual living in Vancouver who the jury concluded best represented the qualities of commitment, leadership, and community ties." In 2021, she was the subject of Teresa Alfield's short documentary film ''Jean Swanson: We Need a New Map''.Charlie Smith
"Five Canadian films to watch in VIFF Short Forum"
''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'', September 23, 2021.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, Jean Canadian anti-poverty activists Writers from Vancouver Living people Canadian women non-fiction writers Members of the Order of Canada Women in British Columbia politics Coalition of Progressive Electors councillors 1940s births Women municipal councillors in Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians