Area doctor / forensic / researcher Jean Pigeon researched and campaigned for health and safety in the early 1960s and designed a flag for Canada.
Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec in 1912, Jean Pigeon completed his education at Le Petit Seminaire in Quebec before going to Lavalle University where he graduated in medicine at the age of 24.
He received the Governor General’s Award for the highest total marks achieved by a Canadian medical student. In 1938 he traveled to Blind River and began working as an associate with Dr. Langlois. Pigeon left for six months to pursue graduate studies in surgery in New York before returning to Blind River to continue his practice.
In his profession, Dr. Pigeon became well known for developing a treatment for burns. His research was conducted at St. John’s General Hospital. Joseph of Blind River.
In his research work on this topic, he explained that there was a need to treat burns due to the possibility of a nuclear war. His research involved the use of amniotic membranes (after birth) and applying them to areas of second-degree burns and it was determined that this was an effective treatment. His research was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Dr. Pigeon spent a lot of time trying to improve medical practices and procedures, and because of the lack of money to fund research, he stressed the importance of government financial aid for new research.
He was also an advocate of regulations for gas appliances used by the general public in order to prevent unnecessary deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning.
As a coroner and doctor, he often had to treat people, especially campers who had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while in their trailers or small houses.
“In my opinion, it is dangerous in these homes to use them unless the products of combustion are disposed of directly through some conduit to the outside,” he said in a 1960 Sault Star article.
His interest in public health was recognized by the London Society in 1964. He was openly opposed to pollution, especially the impact of the Elliot Lake uranium extraction process.
He claimed that mining posed a danger to both human life and wildlife. In addition to the recognition of the London Society, Dr. Pigeon was recognized by the Royal Society of Health and received the Order of Merit in Ottawa.
In 1966 he was appointed a Blind River health officer. In 1970 he gave a lecture on the pharmaceutical benefits of cannabis when the authorities wanted to repress the substance.
“Doctors, nurses and parents, as well as other leaders in society, should seek the truth instead of excluding considerations of threatening dangers for the younger generations and try to suppress them,” he said.
He explained that decisions should be based on scientific evidence when it comes to health policies.
Perhaps one of the most interesting anecdotal pieces about the life of Dr. Pigeon was out of the medical field.
He presented a design for the Canadian flag. Its proposed design for the flag was described with a blue border, as Canada was virtually surrounded by water.
It incorporated red to represent the courage of Canadians defending their freedoms and white to represent the love of Canadians for peace. In the center of the white background was a green maple leaf as it was a symbol of Canada.
Dr. Pigeon explained that credit for the completion of the flag should be given to the sisters at St Joseph’s General Hospital, who allowed their seamstress, Mrs. J. Anson, to make the flag.
In 1971, Dr. Jean Pigeon died at Ottawa General Hospital at the age of 58, leaving behind his wife Marguerite and seven children. He was remembered by his community as a man whom everyone liked but who also helped advance medical science in Canada.