Jay Marine Cowan (July 31, 1946 – January 23, 2022) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1990, and a cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley from 1981 to 1988. Born in Chicago, Cowan left the United States of America during the Vietnam War to avoid that nation's military draft. In Canada, he worked as a miner and organizer for the social democratic New Democratic Party. He was a member of the United Steelworkers of America during this period.