OTTAWA — An outcry from former peacekeepers and families of slain soldiers has prompted Canada's Defence Department to review the eligibility rules for the newly created Sacrifice Medal.

A ceremony to honour the first recipients has been postponed from its scheduled date of Nov. 12 while the review takes place, Gov.-Gen Michelle Jean said in a recent letter to the premier of Saskatchewan.

The decision to review the criteria comes after a public backlash on behalf of those soldiers who were excluded: peacekeepers from the pre-2001 era and families of soldiers killed accidentally in Afghanistan.

"Her letter just simply said that this matter is now being reviewed by those who make recommendations about criteria for medals like this," Premier Brad Wall said Wednesday in Regina.

"Maybe we can even read some sort of positive news behind the news today that they are reviewing it in the case of Jeffrey Walsh."

Wall, who complained to the vice-regal about the criteria and Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh's exclusion, said it wasn't his intention to delay the awarding of the honour.

Walsh's father said he was pleased to hear a review had been undertaken.

"I hope they take their time, this time, and do this properly," said Ben Walsh, whose son died in an accidental shooting on a road 20 kilometres outside of Kandahar City in August 2006.

The medal, introduced on Aug. 29, goes to soldiers killed or wounded in combat and is intended to replace the army's understated tradition of stitching wound stripes into uniforms.

A spokeswoman for Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynzcyk said the military is attempting to solve the problem.

"The review process for the Sacrifice Medal is underway at the highest levels and we sincerely regret any and all inconveniences that the postponement of the inaugural ceremony may have caused any of the recipients and their families," Maj. Cindy Tessier said Wednesday night.

It's unclear how long the review will take any potential changes must also be approved by the prime minister before the governor general sees them, Tessier added.

At least 11 soldiers killed in Afghanistan are not eligible for the new medal because their death did not occur as a result of hostile fire or from a bomb.

Also at issue: the cutoff date of Oct. 7, 2001, which was the official beginning of Canada's involvement in the Afghan war.

That means soldiers who were wounded and killed in the Second World War, the Korean conflict and in dozens of peacekeeping missions around the world would not qualify for the recognition.

In 40 years of peacekeeping missions, roughly 115 Canadian soldiers were killed and hundreds of others wounded, many of them by hostile fire.

Fred Doucette, a retired infantry captain wounded in Sarajevo, said the criteria should have been given more thought by the Defence Department before being submitted to the governor general for approval.

"Whoever sat down at the table and figured this out really didn't look at the whole aspect of this," Doucette said in a cellphone interview while handing out Remembrance Day poppies in Fredericton, N.B.

At a minimum, he said, the eligibility date should be reset to the beginning of the Korean War in June 1950.

When the controversy erupted in the middle of the federal election campaign, Defence Minister Peter MacKay asked the department to show flexibility when interpreting the medal's criteria.

At the time a spokesman said the Tory government could not revisit the eligibility date while the campaign was underway because any major overhaul would require cabinet approval.

The round, silver medal is 36 millimetres across, has a clasp at the top in the form of the Royal Crown and is attached to a red, black and white ribbon.

On one side, there's a profile of the Queen wearing a crown of maple leaves and snowflakes. The other side features an image from the Vimy Memorial with the word "Sacrifice."