James Elliott Coyne, OM (July 17, 1910 – October 12, 2012) was the second governor of the Bank of Canada, from 1955 to 1961, succeeding Graham Towers.

Coyne was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of Edna Margaret (née Elliott) and James Bowes Coyne, a judge at the Manitoba Court of Appeal,[1][2] who was co-prosecutor of the men accused of seditious conspiracy in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.

Coyne graduated Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1925, and had conferred upon him a BA in 1931 from the University of Manitoba.

Coyne disagreed, arguing that loose money policies were creating a debt crisis and that Canada was relying too much on capital exports and loans from the United States, and thus a tightening was needed instead.

The PC majority in the House of Commons passed a bill declaring his position vacant, but the Liberal-controlled Senate rejected it.