Ceremony honours Canadians killed in peacekeeping missions

OTTAWA – After Supt. Doug Coates’ widow was presented with a United Nations medal Sunday morning, their son Luc said the honour would help his family move forward.

"It brings some closure to our family and helps us move on," he said.

About 150 guests and about 100 veterans, RCMP officers, military personnel and military band members attended the annual Peacekeepers’ Day ceremony at the Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa Sunday.

The widows of Supt. Doug Coates and Sgt. Mark Gallagher, two RCMP officers who were killed on a peacekeeping mission during January’s earthquake in Haiti, were presented with the United Nations’ Dag Hammarskjold medals.

Coates, a 52-year-old Gatineau, Que., resident, was acting police commissioner for the United Nations mission in Haiti when his body was discovered in the rubble of the UN’s Port-au-Prince headquarters.

Gallagher, 50, was an RCMP media relations officer based in Halifax who was found dead in the ruins of his rented home.

Their widows, Lise Coates and Lisa Gallagher, accepted the clear egg-shaped medals in sky blue boxes to match the berets of the UN peacekeeping veterans attending the ceremony. They returned with their children, Shane Gallagher and Luc and Julie Coates, to lay flowers on the monument.

The ceremony also marked the addition of a new inscription on the monument to commemorate Canada’s role in supporting the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Sudan.

In a speech, Maj. Gen. A.J. Howard said the outpouring of public support after Coates and Gallagher lost their lives highlighted how important peacekeeping is to Canadians.

"That’s what makes this country great. This is why Canada stands behind those who serve outside our country," he said.

Shane Gallagher, who is 25, said the loss of his father has been hard on his family.

"It’s been extremely tough. It’s hard to get used to not being able to call him all the time," he said.

Shane, who has studied international development, is working with an organization in Woodstock, N.B., to establish a trade school in Haiti in his father’s name.

"We’re so comfortable in the Maritimes, but when it comes to Haiti, it’s the opposite," he said.

Luc Coates, who is 27 and joined the military in 2000, said he deeply admired his father’s three missions to Haiti.

Doug Coates was first posted to Haiti in 1993 and he returned for a second posting a year later.

Before being posted to Haiti again last spring, he headed the RCMP’s International Peace Operations Branch, which co-ordinates the deployment of officers from across Canada to peacekeeping and police-mentoring programs in destabilized countries.

Luc said he was inspired by his father’s desire to help others when choosing his own career.

"He’s a good role model and I aspire to be just like him."