Suzanne Cowan is a Canadian political administrator based in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. She served as the President of the
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, ...
from April 21, 2018 to May 6, 2023.
Biography
Suzanne Cowan is a native of
Halifax. Cowan's father is former Liberal senator
Jim Cowan who was leader of the opposition Liberal caucus in the Senate from 2008 to 2016.
Cowan received degrees from
Mount Allison University and
Université de Strasbourg in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Cowan worked as an communications aide and advisor to liberal
Deputy Prime Minister Herb Grey, minister
Carolyn Bennett,
Senate Government Leader Bernie Boudreau and Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty. She was a key advisor to
Justin Trudeau’s successful
2013 leadership bid, and served as a senior advisor to Trudeau as party leader from 2013 through the 2015 election. In 2014, whilst Cowan was senior advisor to Trudeau, Trudeau removed her all Liberal Senators from the Liberal caucus, including her father who was at the time
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and leader of the
Senate Liberal Caucus.
Cowan was became national vice president of the
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, ...
at its 2016
convention held in Winnipeg, the first convention held since the party returned to power.
At the Winnipeg convention, the freshly elected PM Trudeau implored delegates to adopt a revamped party constitution that drastically altered the party's governance and organization model. Cowan led the drafting of much of the new rules needed to operationally implement the revamped constitution following the convention. In 2018, she was elected unopposed as party president at its 2018 convention held in
Halifax,
and served until the party's 2023 convention in Ottawa. In the
2025 leadership contest that elected Mark Carney as leader, Cowan co-chaired the committee responsible for planning and organizing Leadership vote.
Personal life
Cowan lives in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
She has two daughters, Grace and Clara Cunningham.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Suzanne
Living people
Presidents of the Liberal Party of Canada
Year of birth missing (living people)