Coutts, James A, 1938- : Politician
James (Jim) Allan Coutts was born at High River, Alberta on May 16, 1938. Coutts, who grew up in nearby Nanton, became keenly interested in politics at a very young age. In fact, he was just fifteen years old when he served as a campaign manager for Joe McIntyre, a local mine manager and riding boss, who ran for the Liberals in the 1953 federal election. One of Coutts's chief mentors during this period was a Canmore English teacher and librarian, Dorothy Dowhan, who was also editor of the Nanton newspaper. Coutts's friendship with Dowhan would last until her death.
Following his graduation from high school, Coutts attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton, receiving a B.A. in 1960 and an L.L.B in 1961. During his student years, which overlapped with those of fellow High River native Joe Clark, Coutts was very active on campus in a variety of university organizations, including the student newspaper, the students' council, and the model parliament, where, at one point, he served as prime minister.
Called to the Bar of Alberta in 1962, Coutts practiced law with the Calgary firm McLaws & Co. from 1961 to 1963. While launching his legal career, he remained very active in politics and was elected president of the National Young Liberal Federation. In 1962, with some prompting from his close associate Keith Davey, Coutts ran as a Liberal candidate in his home riding of MacLeod. Apparently the youngest candidiate in the federal election, he was defeated.
In early 1963, Davey named Coutts campaign chairman for Alberta. Not long after, Coutts was invited by Prime Minister Pearson to work in Ottawa at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), where he served as Appointments Secretary from 1963 to 1966.
After three very demanding years at the centre of political power, Coutts resumed his academic career, attending Harvard Business School. Following his graduation, with an MBA, in 1968, he worked as a business consultant with the New York firm McKinsey & Co., 1968-1970. He was subsequently a founding partner of the Canada Consulting Group, where he worked from 1970 to 1975.
However, Coutts could not resist the siren call of politics. During the 1974 federal election, he played an instrumental role in the Liberal Party campaign, serving as Prime Minister Trudeau's right-hand man and working with Keith Davey to fashion an effective, winning electoral strategy.
In 1975, while still in his thirties, he returned to Ottawa, assuming the senior position of Principal Secretary in the Trudeau PMO. Following the defeat of the Liberals in 1979, Coutts continued to work for Trudeau in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. After the Liberal victory in the 1980 election, Coutts resumed his responsibilities as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
The following year, he resigned his PMO position and contested a federal by-election for the riding of Spadina, but lost to the NDP candidate, Dan Heaps. From 1981 to 1984, Coutts carefully prepared for the next election campaign in Spadina, building up an extensive network and a political staff in the riding and offering many of the constituency services that might more typically be expected from a sitting MP. During this period, Coutts also cultivated his contacts within the federal Liberal Party and delivered several significant speeches on a variety of policy issues. He also published the book A Canada That Works for Everyone (1984), lectured at York University, served on the board of the Niagara Institute, and founded Lowther Consultants. Coutts was clearly determined to play a major role in the federal Liberal Party and even considered a run at the party leadership. These aspirations largely came to an end, however, with the 1984 general election, which saw Coutts defeated in Spadina and the Liberal Party crushed by the Progressive Conservatives led by Brian Mulroney.
Although Coutts subsequently contributed a weekly column to the Toronto Star (1986-1988) and served as a political commentator on CBC Radio's Morningside (1986), his active political career was more or less at an end. He turned his attention, instead, to his business pursuits, particularly Canadian Investment Capital Ltd., which he had co-founded in 1985. In addition, he became increasingly active in a number of charitable, arts, and educational organizations. Associated in various capacities with the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific since its founding in 1973, he has also served on the United World College International Executive Board, the National Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Katimavik Board, and, for nearly twenty years, the Board and Foundation for the Hospital for Sick Children. In addition, he co-founded the W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize for Writers & Mentors and has been a keen supporter of the arts, particularly in Toronto and in his home province. Following the death of Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 2000, Coutts was also involved with various intiatives designed to commemorate the life of the former Prime Minister and his legacy of progressive Liberalism.
Coutts was awarded the Order of Canada in 2001.
