 He received the 1976 Michener Award for his articles about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and he later wrote a number of books on the RCMP and Canadian espionage.In 1982, Sawatsky began teaching classes in investigative journalism at various Canadian universities and has been an adjunct professor of journalism at Carleton University's School of Journalism since 1991.Sawatsky also works as a consultant in the practice of interviewing and has been involved in interview training for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation since 1991.