Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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- Jim Coutts
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Description area
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History
James Allan “Jim” Coutts (16 May 1938-31 December 2013) was born in High River, Alberta and raised in Nanton, Alberta, where he began his career in politics early, rising to prominence as President of the Young Liberals in the early 1960s. Coutts received his law degree from the University of Alberta in 1961, and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1968. In his career as a Liberal Party of Canada political staffer, Coutts was a Secretary to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson (1963-1966), and later became Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1975-1981). Coutts twice ran for federal office in the Toronto Trinity-Spadina riding in 1981 and 1984, but was defeated both times by New Democratic Party candidate Dan Heap. In his professional life he worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. from 1968-1970 and was a partner with the Canada Consulting Group from 1970-1975. Following his unsuccessful bid for office, Coutts was a principal with Lowther Consultants Ltd. and C.E.O. of Canadian Investment Capital Ltd. He remained actively involved with the Liberal Party of Canada, primarily as an advisor, and was also known for his philanthropy work, serving on the boards of Pearson College, the Foundation of the Hospital for Sick Children and the Royal Ontario Museum as well as being a co-founder of the W.O. Mitchell Literature Prize. He was an active birder and hunter and member of Nature Conservancy of Canada. In 2001 he was made a member of the Order of Canada. An active collector of Canadian art, he made other significant donations to the University of Lethbridge, including the donation of his Nanton homestead.