Former defence minister Robert Coates dies
Michael Tutton, THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 11:19 AM EST | Updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 01:58 PM EST
HALIFAX -- Robert Coates, the former defence minister who died this week at the age of 87, was praised Wednesday by Brian Mulroney as an astute politician who should be remembered for far more than his resignation after visiting a German strip club in the 1980s.
"I was very saddened by it (the resignation) at the time," said the former prime minister.
"He had done nothing wrong. In politics we live in a world of perception as well and given he was minister of National Defence those circumstances caused him to reflect upon it and come to see me and (he) submitted his resignation."
A family member in Halifax confirmed Coates' death, but was unavailable for further comment. The Halifax Chronicle Herald reported he had been sick for a short period and died on Monday night.
The longtime member of the Progressive Conservative Party was first elected to represent the Amherst area in Nova Scotia in 1957 and served over 30 years as an MP.
The veteran politician served only six months as Defence Minister in the Mulroney cabinet before the scandal. He didn't reoffer in the next federal campaign, but Mulroney appointed his friend to a federal trade tribunal, where he served for a decade before retiring to his home province
Mulroney said in a telephone interview that Coates' service for three decades as a Nova Scotia MP and in the ranks of the Progressive Conservative party should outweigh his departure from cabinet.
Mulroney said Coates had a hand in files ranging from the creation of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the creation of the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and the offshore mineral rights deal cut with former Nova Scotia premier John Buchanan.
Mulroney said he never spoke to Coates again about the resignation after the day it occurred.
He remembered walking him to his car that day.
"He accepted that certain things happen in politics ... He was minister of National Defence and this was at the height of the cold war and everything was under scrutiny."
In the leadup to the 1988 election, which was fought largely over the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, Coates continued to be part of Mulroney's inner circle of advisers.
Mulroney said he put together a small committee of people to advise him on political strategy, and he included Coates with former premiers Peter Lougheed, Bill Davis, and Frank Moores, as well as political strategist Derek Burney, in monthly meetings.
"That will give you an idea of the value I placed on his political skills and his political judgment. As a practising politician he had few peers," he said.
Mulroney said the committee's political advice helped the PCs vault from third place in the polls in early 1988 to a majority victory in the Nov. 21 election that year.
"He was a pro," he said of his friend.
Former defence minister Robert Coates makes a statement in the House of Commons in Ottawa, in this June 8, 1988 file photo. Coates, who resigned his post in 1985 after a controversial visit to a German strip club, has died. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Mitchell)
Former defence minister Robert Coates dies | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
Michael Tutton, THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 11:19 AM EST | Updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 01:58 PM EST
HALIFAX -- Robert Coates, the former defence minister who died this week at the age of 87, was praised Wednesday by Brian Mulroney as an astute politician who should be remembered for far more than his resignation after visiting a German strip club in the 1980s.
"I was very saddened by it (the resignation) at the time," said the former prime minister.
"He had done nothing wrong. In politics we live in a world of perception as well and given he was minister of National Defence those circumstances caused him to reflect upon it and come to see me and (he) submitted his resignation."
A family member in Halifax confirmed Coates' death, but was unavailable for further comment. The Halifax Chronicle Herald reported he had been sick for a short period and died on Monday night.
The longtime member of the Progressive Conservative Party was first elected to represent the Amherst area in Nova Scotia in 1957 and served over 30 years as an MP.
The veteran politician served only six months as Defence Minister in the Mulroney cabinet before the scandal. He didn't reoffer in the next federal campaign, but Mulroney appointed his friend to a federal trade tribunal, where he served for a decade before retiring to his home province
Mulroney said in a telephone interview that Coates' service for three decades as a Nova Scotia MP and in the ranks of the Progressive Conservative party should outweigh his departure from cabinet.
Mulroney said Coates had a hand in files ranging from the creation of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the creation of the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and the offshore mineral rights deal cut with former Nova Scotia premier John Buchanan.
Mulroney said he never spoke to Coates again about the resignation after the day it occurred.
He remembered walking him to his car that day.
"He accepted that certain things happen in politics ... He was minister of National Defence and this was at the height of the cold war and everything was under scrutiny."
In the leadup to the 1988 election, which was fought largely over the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, Coates continued to be part of Mulroney's inner circle of advisers.
Mulroney said he put together a small committee of people to advise him on political strategy, and he included Coates with former premiers Peter Lougheed, Bill Davis, and Frank Moores, as well as political strategist Derek Burney, in monthly meetings.
"That will give you an idea of the value I placed on his political skills and his political judgment. As a practising politician he had few peers," he said.
Mulroney said the committee's political advice helped the PCs vault from third place in the polls in early 1988 to a majority victory in the Nov. 21 election that year.
"He was a pro," he said of his friend.
Former defence minister Robert Coates makes a statement in the House of Commons in Ottawa, in this June 8, 1988 file photo. Coates, who resigned his post in 1985 after a controversial visit to a German strip club, has died. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Mitchell)
Former defence minister Robert Coates dies | Canada | News | Toronto Sun