Canada & The UN > Canadians Who Made A Difference

Peacekeeping And Peacemaking

Around the world millions of people have been killed, wounded, and /or left homeless as a rest of war. It was, in part,"....to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war..." that the United Nations was formed. Working towards this goal, the UN has been active in efforts to reduce and prevent needless suffering associated with war (in addition to trying to promote the use of peaceful methods for resolving potential conflicts). The UN has recently gone beyond traditional peacekeeping missions (whereby it takes action to bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through peaceful means).

Many Canadians have worked with the UN to prevent conflicts, deliver aid to civilians caught in the crossfire, negotiate cease-fires, separate warring parties, overseas treaties, and prepare for and monitor elections. Well over 100,000 Canadians have taken part in such activities, and have saved the lives of many individuals by doing so. Equally, just over one-hundred Canadians have lost their lives in the line of Peacekeeping duty. While military have been the most visible participants in the peacekeeping/peacemaking operations, civilians have also played an important role. The following is a list of a few Canadians who have played a significant role in attempts to bring more peace to the world.

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Military

LGen Maurice Baril: Served three tours with the UN in Cyprus. Awarded the Order of Military Merit (1984). Appointed Senior Military Adviser to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992). Was responsible for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO) in the mid 1990’s.
BGen (ret’d) Clayton Beattie: Served the UN for five years, principally in Cyprus where he held various appointments such as Operations Officer and Canadian Contingent Commander. Appointed a Commander of the Order of Military Merit for his services in Cyprus.
	LGen E. L. M. Burns: Created and led the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) which defused the Suez Crisis. Served as Chief of Staff in the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), as Director of the UN Information Center in Cairo, and as Public Relations officer on the UNEF staff.
	MGen Romeo Dallaire: Head of the UN Assistance Missions in Rwanda (UNAMIR) which helped save thousands of Rwandans during the genocide that took place in 1994.
Gen (ret’d) John de Chastelain: Served the UN in Cyprus as Company Commander and later as Commander of the Canadian contingent. As Chief of the Defence Staff oversaw the significantly expanded Canadian participation in peacekeeping operations.
Col (ret’d) Don Ethell: Senior Military Observer in the UNTSO and served as Deputy Chief of Staff, and later the Commander of the Canadian contingent, with the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Instrumental in implementing large-scale prisoner of war (POW) exchanges between Syria and Israel. Department of National Defense’s first Director of Peacekeeping Operations. Called out of retirement to head Canada’s contribution to the Europeans co-operation Commission’s Observer Mission in Yugoslavia.
LCol (ret’d) Robert Gallagher: As a member of the Canadian Forces, he served in the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and as Military Advisor and Counselor to Canada’s Permanent Missions to the UN. As a civilian, after 1979, he worked with the UN Relief and Works Agency for the Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA), both in a staff capacity and (following retirement) as a Special Adviser.
	MGen (ret’d)Lewis MacKenzie: Involved in seven foreign assignments with multinational armed forces around the globe. Chief of Staff for the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Yugoslavia in 1992.

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Civilians

	Joe Clark: Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Cyprus. Played an important role in exerting international pressure on South Africa over its Apartheid policy.
Ron Gould: Responsible for the selection of technical advisors and observers to the UN missions in Nicaragua (1989). Head of a UN fact-finding mission in Cambodia to design the framework and operations of the 1991 election; Director, Electoral Division, UN in Mozambique (1994); and member of the UN pre-electoral mission to Tanzania in 1995.
	Lester B. Pearson: Canadian representative at the UN’s founding Conference In San Francisco. Only Canadian to serve as President of the UN General Assembly (1952-53). Developed UN peacekeeping with his plan to end the Suez Crisis. Subsequently awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. (Link to more detailed information on Pearson's role in the UN)