Robert Coates (politician)


Robert Carman Coates, was a Canadian politician and Cabinet minister.

Early life and education

Coates was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, the son of a cattle buyer.
In 1951 Coates received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Mount Allison University in nearby Sackville, New Brunswick. In 1954, Coates graduated from Dalhousie Law School in Halifax. Prior to his election, Coates was a lawyer and member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society.

Political career

Coates was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Cumberland, Nova Scotia. Coates was a backbencher during the John Diefenbaker and Joe Clark governments. He was appointed to the Cabinet of Brian Mulroney as Defence Minister following the Tory victory in the 1984 election.
Coates' main initiative was the re-introduction of separate uniforms for the naval, land and air branches of the military. Liberal Paul Hellyer had unified the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force into an integrated Canadian Forces with a single uniform in 1967. Hellyer had scrapped the traditional British style uniforms and ranks of the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force and replaced them with a green American style uniform and ranks for the unified Canadian Forces. Coates and other Progressive Conservatives had long derided this decision as disrespectful of tradition. Although it provided a huge boost to military morale, particularly in the navy, the restoration was strongly opposed by the then-Chief of Defence Staff, General Gerard Thériault, on grounds that the dark green imposed in the 1960s was the only possible "distinctly Canadian" uniform colour. While Coates reintroduced distinctive uniforms for each service, he was unable to reverse the unification of the forces.
Coates resigned from the Cabinet on February 12, 1985, after it emerged that he visited several strip clubs during a trip to West Germany in November 1984. Coates did not run in the 1988 election.

Death

Coates died in Halifax on January 11, 2016 after a short illness, at the age of 87.

Personal life

In 1954, Coates married Mary Blanche Wade of Perth Junction, New Brunswick. The couple had two children, David and Amy.