Dr. Swain is the Senior Advisor to the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) and a research associate at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies. As an acknowledged expert in public environmental policy, Dr. Swain chaired the research advisory panel of the Walkerton Inquiry, and an expert panel on a water and wastewater strategy for Ontario.

Dr. Swain holds a doctorate in economic geography from the University of Minnesota and an LLD from the University of Victoria. He worked in nine federal departments between 1971 and 1995, eventually rising to the positions of Deputy Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Deputy Minister of Industry Canada.

On leaving the Canadian federal government, Dr. Swain became CEO of Hambros Canada, and a director of its UK merchant banking parent. Dr. Swain has also worked for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria, and the province of British Columbia. In addition, he has served as a director of Canadian Bank Note Limited and Canadian Geographic Enterprises, along with several philanthropic organizations.