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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

lawyer, a

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

from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

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. Cowan was a lawyer and a partner at the legal firm Stewart McKelvey from 1967 until 2020. He retired from the senate on January 22, 2017, having reached the mandatory retirement age for senators. He was appointed to the Senate on the advice of

prime minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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

on March 24, 2005 as a

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

Senator. In 2008, he was appointed

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada In Canada, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate () is the leader of the largest party in the Canadian Senate not in government. Even though the position's name is very similar to the leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons (th ...

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, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

, where he was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

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

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

Nova Scotia politics

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

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party (officially the Liberal Association of Nova Scotia) is a Centrist politics, centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently hol ...

, 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 Scoti ...

at the February 1986

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

Senate

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 served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

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 (), also known as the Senate Liberals (), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were individually members of the Liberal Party of Canada and were ap ...

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 () is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after they are passed by the House of Commons of Canada ...

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. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...

'', 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 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 Leaders of the opposition in the Senate of Canada Dalhousie University alumni Schulich School of Law alumni Lawyers in Nova Scotia Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the United Church of Canada Politicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada Members of the Order of Canada