| David Swann knows what it’s like to face consequences for speaking out on a controversial issue. And he knows that even in Canada, a country with an international reputation for protecting human rights, freedom of speech without repercussion is not always the reality.
It’s been over two years since David Swann was fired as medical officer of health for the Palliser Health Authority for speaking out in favour of the Kyoto Protocol, which the Alberta government continues to vehemently oppose. And the current Liberal MLA for Calgary Mountain View and recipient of this year’s Freedom of Expression Award through Calgary’s Freedom to Read Week is still amazed and angry that he could’ve been fired just for voicing an opinion on what he believed was an important health issue.
Swann was fired in October, 2002 by Len Mitzel, chair of the Palliser Health Authority board, for his pro-Kyoto comments. At the time, Mitzel was the Progressive Conservative riding association president for Environment Minister Lorne Taylor’s riding, and he’d been appointed chair of the health authority by the Conservative government. Taylor, despite being the environment minister, was one of the most vocal opponents of the Kyoto Protocol at the time and he admitted calling Mitzel after Swann’s pro-Kyoto comments were reported in the media. Taylor claimed the phone call was just to confirm whether Swann’s comments represented the Palliser Health Authority board’s position and that he never exerted any pressure or influence on the board to fire Swann. Opposition MLAs demanded that Taylor resign and after widespread public outcry, the Palliser Health Authority offered Swann his job back but he refused.
"I was angry and I was frightened and I was in despair that this could happen in this country; that people speaking on their conscience in a responsible position as someone who is given the responsibility to protect public health… would get fired for it," says Swann. "It showed me how much arrogance there is in this government and it also showed me how fragile this democracy is."
But Swann didn’t let the controversy silence him. Instead it made him passionate about entering politics. Last November, Swann was elected as a Liberal MLA for Calgary Mountain View, beating Conservative MLA Mark Hlady by more than 3,000 votes, which surprised many political observers. He says he decided to enter politics because he was increasingly concerned about the state of democracy in Alberta and about the need to protect Alberta’s environment.
Swann says freedom of expression has been "very much suppressed" in the province and he wants to see that change.
"I think there’s been a fear and anxiety about speaking out on… liberal, progressive values, meaning speaking on behalf of the environment and on behalf of the most vulnerable people in our society. I think there’s a combination of intimidation and a vulnerability of people who think differently in… what has been a dominantly conservative culture and business culture," says Swann.
He says as a politician his main focus will be to get citizens involved in the political process because "when citizens are weak the political process corrupts itself because there’s no checks or balances or accountability so that has really pushed me."
"There is a dimension of courage needed in citizens to actually say to themselves ‘I know something about this, I care about this and I’m going to speak about this,’" he says.
For Swann, one of those important issues has been the humanitarian situation in Iraq. Swann helped found the Calgary group Canadian Network to End Sanctions in Iraq (CANESI), which later turned into Canadian Democracy and International Law (CANDIL). First the group fought sanctions against Iraq, and then protested against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Swann has visited Iraq three times and has seen firsthand the suffering of Iraqis – first under the sanctions and then following the U.S. occupation.
"(The invasion) galvanized a lot of us. We became much more activist around this time fearing that the already broken health system and economy would be shattered by war," says Swann.
Swann says the fact that the U.S. invaded Iraq despite antiwar protests by millions of people around the world was "very discouraging," but he says the antiwar movement was still worthwhile.
"Many of us really lost our momentum at that time but there was also a recognition that we did make a difference. It was the first and the largest antiwar mobilization in history before a war. The U.S. got a strong message," says Swann.
When asked if he was always comfortable speaking out on issues that mattered to him, Swann smiles and says, "By no means. I’d been the shyest, most withdrawn, reticent person for 40 years, but at some point I began to realize that was part of the problem and I wanted to be part of the solution. I started to speak out more."
Swann will be presented with the Calgary Freedom of Expression Award on February 24 at 7 p.m. at the Prairie Ink Café at McNally Robinson. |
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