Robert Coates (politician)

Robert Coates
Member of the Canadian Parliament
In office 1957–1988 Cumberland (1957–1966) Cumberland—Colchester North (1966–1976) Cumberland—Colchester (1976–1988)
Preceded by	Azel Randolph Lusby
Succeeded by	Bill Casey
Personal details
Born	Robert Carman Coates (1928-03-10)March 10, 1928 Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political party	Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Profession	Author, barrister, lawyer

Robert Carman Coates, PC, QC (March 10, 1928 – January 11, 2016) was a Canadian politician and Cabinet minister.

Coates was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1957 election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) 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. 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, returned to the backbench, and did not run in the 1988 election.

Before politics, Coates was a barrister and member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society.

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

External links

• Robert Coates – Parliament of Canada biography

24th Ministry – Cabinet of Brian Mulroney
Cabinet Post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Jean-Jacques Blais	Minister of Defence 1984–1985	Erik Nielsen
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Randolph Lusby, Liberal	Member of Parliament for Cumberland 1957 – 1966	Succeeded by riding abolished
Preceded by riding created	Member of Parliament for Cumberland—Colchester North 1966 – 1976	Succeeded by riding abolished
Preceded by riding created	Member of Parliament for Cumberland—Colchester 1976 – 1988	Succeeded by Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative