Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1938 - 2013 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3.7 m textual records
142 vol. diaries and notebooks
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical 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.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The James Allan Coutts fonds consists of rebound diaries in custom enclosures, additional notebooks and diaries and extensive textual records and graphic material supplementing Coutts’ diary keeping activities. Also retained were Coutts’ essays and research for a retrospective political memoir and on various social policy topics that concerned Coutts following his retirement. The diaries are particularly detailed for the period of Coutts’ involvement in the administration of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau office, as a chronicle of behind the scenes political strategizing and policy making. Also the fonds becomes again more detailed from the 1990s until Coutts’ death in 2013, when the diaries become decidedly more personal, reflecting Coutts’ interests in nature, travel and the arts, as well as the social and political landscape of Canada. Material concerning Coutts family genealogical research and other private records have been deaccessioned and transferred to the University of Lethbridge. An appendix of alphabetically arranged correspondents has been added to the finding aid for the benefit of researchers. Individual correspondents are also listed at the file level.
Contains series
- Bound Diaries
- Additional diaries and scrapbooks
- Loose diary materials
- Essays, writing and research
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The fonds follows the generally chronological arrangement suggested by the original order of the material and Jim Coutts’ diary keeping activities, with exceptions noted at the file level.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access
Conditions governing reproduction
Various copyright holders. It is the researcher’s responsibility to obtain permission to publish any part of the fonds.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Attached