Kenneth Swan is a distinguished arbitrator, a respected scholar, and a dedicated civil libertarian. For 25 years, he served as President of the Ontario Labour-Management Arbitrators’ Association. In this capacity, Ken was effective in persuading successive governments of the vital importance of an independent arbitral profession and in influencing the content of labour legislation. He was named President Emeritus of the Association in 2009.For nine years, Ken taught full-time at Queen’s University’s Faculty of Law, and for 15 years, he lectured as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. During his academic tenure, he published seminal articles on labour law that remain influential in the present. Ken also acted on occasion as research consultant to the Canada Department of Justice, the Ontario Law Reform Commission, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee. At the same time, he authored numerous arbitration awards, hundreds of which have been reported.Ken served for many years as Vice-President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), representing the CCLA on many occasions in Canada and abroad on issues fundamental to civil society, including appearing at Royal Commissions, at parliamentary and legislative committee hearings, and as counsel in the courts. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Bora Laskin Award for distinguished contributions to Canadian labour law, awarded by the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto.Recipient of the 2016 Bora Laskin Award.
