James S. Cowan (born January 22, 1942) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer, a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

from 2005 to 2017, and was Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 2008 to 2015 and leader of the Independent Liberal caucus until June 15, 2016. A lawyer, Cowan has been a partner at the legal firm of Stewart McKelvey since 1967. He retired from the senate on January 22, 2017, having reached the mandatory retirement age for senators.

Education

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Law degree from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

, where he was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...

fraternity. He received his Master of Laws degree in 1966 from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Nova Scotia politics

In November 1985, Cowan announced he would seek the leadership of the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Zach ...

, but was defeated by

Vince MacLean Vincent James MacLean (born December 8, 1944)Normandin, PG ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1977'' was leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party in 1985 and again from 1986 to 1992. He was replaced by John Savage. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scot ...

at the February 1986

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

Senate

He was appointed to the Senate on the advice of

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

on March 24, 2005 as a

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

Senator. In 2008, he was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada In 2012, it was reported that Cowan and other Senate leaders allowed Senator

Joyce Fairbairn Joyce Fairbairn (November 6, 1939 – March 29, 2022) was a Canadian senator and was the first woman to serve as the leader of the Government in the Senate. Early life and education Born in Lethbridge, Alberta on November 6, 1939, Fairbairn w ...

to continue voting on legislative matters for four months after she was declared legally incompetent due to dementia caused by

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

Leader of the Independent Senate Liberal Caucus

On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

announced all Liberal Senators, including Cowan, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents. The Senators continued to refer to themselves as the

Senate Liberal Caucus The Senate Liberal Caucus (french: Caucus libéral du Sénat), also known as the Senate Liberals (french: libéraux au Sénat), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were ind ...

even if they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus. Liberal senators reaffirmed Cowan as their leader in 2014 through internal elections. At the time that Trudeau removed Cowan and his fellow Liberal Senators from the Liberal caucus, Cowan's daughter Suzanne served as a senior advisor to Trudeau. When the Liberal Party formed government following the 2015 federal election, new Prime Minister

did not appoint Senator Cowan as Government Senate Leader. The position was replaced with the

Representative of the Government in the Senate The representative of the Government in the Senate (french: représentant du gouvernement au Sénat) is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after th ...

and assigned to independent Senator Peter Harder leaving Cowan as leader of the Independent Liberal caucus."Justin Trudeau names seven new senators"
''

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', March 18, 2016. Cowan stepped down as Liberal Senate Caucus leader on June 15, 2016. He retired from the Senate upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 on January 22, 2017.

Family

Samuel Rettie Samuel Rettie (January 23, 1818 – January 20, 1883) was a merchant, shipbuilder and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1867, he spoke in favour of Canadian Confederation. He represented Colchester County from 1871 to 1874 in the N ...

is Cowan's great-great uncle.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Jim 1942 births Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics Canadian senators from Nova Scotia Dalhousie University alumni Schulich School of Law alumni Lawyers in Nova Scotia Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the United Church of Canada People from Halifax, Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians Members of the Order of Canada