Mr. Speaker, today I join so many Pontiac constituents and the entire country in mourning the loss of Canadian heart surgeon and former senator, Dr. Wilbert Keon.
ln 1935, Dr. Keon was born in the town of Sheenboro, and became the pride of the upper Pontiac long before he was awarded the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada, and well prior to his appointment to the Senate in 1990.
He founded the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and performed over 10,000 open heart operations, pioneering many new surgical techniques. In 1986, he became the first Canadian surgeon to implant an artificial heart in a human.
His legend only grew from there. As a senator, he helped to establish the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and worked to build Genome Canada. He also played a key role during the SARS epidemic.
Today we pay tribute to one of the greatest residents of the national capital region. Dr. Keon leaves behind Barbara, his wife of 60 years, and their three children.
As I express these condolences to family and friends, know that the riding of Pontiac is reflecting on a great leader who will always be known as a “good Pontiac lad”.