Alastair Sweeny

Last updated

Alastair Sweeny (born August 15, 1946) is a Canadian publisher, historian, and author.

Contents

Early life

Born in Toronto, Ontario, he attended St. Andrew's College, and received a bachelor's degree from the Trinity College in the University of Toronto, and a Master of Letters and Doctor of Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin.

Career

Sweeny has managed research programs, produced reference and learning materials, and consulted with many private and public sector organizations, including as an adviser to the Canadian government's Task Force on National Unity (the Pepin-Robarts Commission), [1] Library and Archives Canada, Parks Canada, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, National Indian Veterans Association, Assembly of First Nations, Canadian Heritage, eLibrary ProQuest, Nelson Thomson Learning, Quebecor Media, Electric Library Canada and CanWest Global.

In 1989, he produced Canadisk, Canada's first multimedia CD-ROM, as a joint venture with Encyclopædia Britannica. In the 1990s, he developed learning materials for Apple Computer's eWorld online service, and produced the original Encarta Book of Quotations (1999) with Microsoft Inc. and Bloomsbury Publishing, London. In the 1990s, he helped get Canada's SchoolNet under way, and developed the On This Day in Canadian History online service for Bell Globemedia. [2]

Sweeny has produced and written corporate history for a number of Canadian companies, including Investors Group, Alberta Energy Company (now Encana), Magna International and Gendis, Inc. He has done background research for Canadian authors such as W. L. Morton (research for a biography of Lord Strathcona), Peter C. Newman (Hudson's Bay Company series background history), Richard Gwyn (The 49th Paradox: Canada in North America), Pierre Berton (The Promised Land) and Jeffrey Simpson (Spoils of Power).[ citation needed ] He is author of several books, including a biography of Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1976) and CanQuiz (2002). His "business biography" of the BlackBerry, BlackBerry Planet, was published by John Wiley Canada Ltd in September 2009, and his book on Canada's oilsands industry, Black Bonanza, was published by Wiley in April 2010. His book Fire Along the Frontier: Great Battles of the War of 1812 was published by Dundurn Press to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Sweeny is currently executive director of the non-profit educational foundation The Civics Channel, dedicated to research, teaching and learning in the areas of citizenship and society, politics, human rights and the justice system. He is co-author and producer of Civics Canada Online, as well as its print version, Civics Canada (2005), and the sponsored Canadawiki portal.

He is also Vice President of Northern Blue Publishing of Waterloo, Ontario, and co-author and producer of History of Canada Online (Canada's Digital History) and Canada's First People, a history of Canada's native and aboriginal nations.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Riel</span> Métis leader in Canada (1844–1885)

Louis Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to defend Métis rights and identity as the Northwest Territories came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War of 1812</span> 1812–1815 conflict in North America

The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Cartier</span> French maritime explorer of North America (1491–1557)

Jacques Cartier was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas" after the Iroquoian names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona and at Hochelaga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Confederation</span> 1867 unification of Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick

Canadian Confederation was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Dominion of Canada, on July 1, 1867. This process occurred in accordance with the rising tide of Canadian nationalism that was then beginning to swell within these provinces and others. Upon Confederation, Canada consisted of four provinces: Ontario and Quebec, which had been split out from the Province of Canada, and the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The province of Prince Edward Island, which had hosted the first meeting to consider Confederation, the Charlottetown Conference, did not join Confederation until 1873. Over the years since Confederation, Canada has seen numerous territorial changes and expansions, resulting in the current number of ten provinces and three territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George-Étienne Cartier</span> Canadian statesman (1814–1873)

Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained by his having been named in honour of King George III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Tilloch Galt</span> Canadian politician

Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, was a politician and Founding Father of the Canadian Confederation.

<i>The Canadian Encyclopedia</i> Encyclopedia on Canada

The Canadian Encyclopedia is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of the federal Department of Canadian Heritage.

<i>Heritage Minutes</i> Canadian television series

The Heritage Minutes is a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. Published by Historica Canada the Minutes integrate Canadian history, folklore and myths into dramatic storylines. Like the Canada Vignettes of the 1970s, the Minutes themselves have become a part of Canadian culture and been the subject of academic studies as well as parody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Name of Canada</span>

While a variety of theories have been postulated for the name of Canada, its origin is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning 'village' or 'settlement'. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona ; by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada.

Historica Canada is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to promoting the country's history and citizenship. All of its programs are offered bilingually and reach more than 28 million Canadians annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Étienne Wenger</span> Swiss information scientist

Étienne Charles Wenger is an educational theorist and practitioner, best known for his formulation of the theory of situated cognition and his more recent work in the field of communities of practice.

Nick Brune, is a Canadian educator, historian, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of Canadian history</span>

This is a bibliography of major works on the History of Canada.

The War of 1812 bibliography is a selective, annotated bibliography using APA style citations of the many books related to the War of 1812. There are thousands of books and articles written about this topic. Only the most useful are presented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Rhodes</span> English-born author (born 1978)

Natasha Rhodes is an English-born author, best known for her contemporary fantasy book series starring supernatural crime-fighter Kayla Steele. She has also written many film novelizations of popular blockbuster movies such as Blade: Trinity and the Final Destination series of movies, as well as original books based on films such as the A Nightmare on Elm Street series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Canadian history</span>

This is a brief timeline of the history of Canada, comprising important social, economic, political, military, legal, and territorial changes and events in Canada and its predecessor states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historiography of Canada</span> Historiography of a country

The historiography of Canada deals with the manner in which historians have depicted, analyzed, and debated the history of Canada. It also covers the popular memory of critical historical events, ideas and leaders, as well as the depiction of those events in museums, monuments, reenactments, pageants and historic sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackinaw jacket</span> Hip-length coat of blanket-weight wool often in a plaid pattern

The mackinaw jacket, also known as a mackinaw coat, is a short double-breasted coat made of a thick heavy woollen material, generally with a red-and-black plaid pattern.

References

  1. Final Report; conversation with subject
  2. since replaced by Today in Canadian History