Pierre Mailloux, nicknamed “Doc Mailloux”, has died. The psychiatrist, a controversial figure in the Quebec media, breathed his last on Friday morning in Trois-Rivières, at the age of 74.
Suffering from a kidney infection last year, he “passed away peacefully,” according to a short message left online by his microphone partner, Josey Arsenault.
The Quebec public discovered his iconic gray beard, his professor glasses, his limping gait (he had lost a leg in a car accident) and above all his outspokenness in the 1980s, when he filled the role of expert lawyer at the trial of Denis Lortie. His training as a psychiatrist and his strong opinions pushed him in front of the microphones until he got his own show, on CKAC, in 1995.
Over the years, Doc Mailloux accumulates escapades as much as he attracts public attention. He is invited onto almost every television to hear him talk about child abuse, mental illness, sex and, ultimately, all current social issues. His crude style sometimes descends into vulgarity, as in 2007, when an interview that was supposed to be broadcast on Télé-Québec was never broadcast due to middle fingers. “I can really be vulgar. Vulgarity allows us to say many things that we couldn’t say otherwise,” he then said in defense.
However, the “Doc” crossed the line in 2005 on the set of the show Tout le monde en parole. He proclaims to hundreds of thousands of viewers that studies show that “the intelligence quotient of blacks and Native Americans [est] significantly less than 100”. This is too much for the College of Doctors. For these comments, the professional body will disbar the psychiatrist for five years in 2012, a decision which will be reviewed two years later by the Professional Tribunal.
This controversy fails to silence the media beast from Lac-Saint-Jean, trained in medicine at Laval and McGill universities. Without any remorse, Pierre Mailloux, on the contrary, multiplies his hobbies over the years. Ultimately he was canceled several times during his career, but never permanently lost the public’s attention. The professional association of doctors is “severe” towards him, he considers the main interested party, who often defends himself before the judges. He went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to seek compensation, without success.
His fixed ideas fascinate the population as much as they divide them. Thus “feminized men”, his obsession with “Arab culture” and “enlightened” social workers pass under his intellectual knife. He also wrote several books to summarize his thoughts: For the voluntary castration of pedophiles, To help women, To raise your children, don’t humiliate them, etc.
Contacted in 2006 by the Conservative Party of Canada to enter politics, he rejected the offer due to his refusal to respect… Parliament’s dress code. “I will never be forced to wear a tie while Sikhs have the freedom to wear cloaks in the House of Commons,” this maverick personality will offer as an explanation, unable to limit his freedom of speech.
However, his voice remained silent on Friday. Doc Mailloux’s family said they wanted to “experiment with the next steps in complete privacy” and would not grant any interviews.
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2024-01-13 00:19:01
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