Robert Coates (politician)
Robert Carman Coates (March 10, 1928 – January 12, 2016) was a Canadian politician and cabinet minister from Nova Scotia. Born in Amherst, he earned a BA in political science from Mount Allison University in 1951 and a law degree from Dalhousie University (LLB, LLD). He worked as a lawyer before entering politics.
Coates was elected to the House of Commons in 1957 as a Progressive Conservative MP for Cumberland, Nova Scotia, and served until 1988. The riding later became Cumberland—Colchester North (1968–1979) and then Cumberland—Colchester (1979–1988). He was a backbencher during the governments of John Diefenbaker and Joe Clark.
In 1984, after the PCs won under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Coates became Minister of National Defence, serving from September 17, 1984, to February 12, 1985. His notable action as defence minister was to reintroduce separate uniforms for the navy, army, and air force, reversing the 1967 unification that created a single Canadian Forces uniform.
Coates resigned from the Cabinet after it emerged that he visited strip clubs during a trip to West Germany in November 1984. He did not run in the 1988 federal election.
He died in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on January 12, 2016, at age 87 after a short illness. He married Mary Blanche Wade in 1954, and they had two children, David Wade and Jodi. The Robert C. Coates fonds is held at Library and Archives Canada.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:38 (CET).