Pierre Mailloux, aka “Doc Mailloux”, has died. The psychiatrist, a controversial figure in the Quebec media, took his last breath Friday morning in Trois-Rivières at the age of 74.
Struck with a kidney infection last year, he “passed away peacefully,” according to a brief message left online by his microphone partner, Josey Arsenault.
The Quebec public discovered his iconic gray beard, his professor’s glasses, his lame gait (he had lost a leg in a car accident) and especially his outspokenness in the 1980s as a consultant at the occasion of the trial of Denis Lortie. His training as a psychiatrist and his strong opinions propelled 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 the public’s attention. He is invited on almost every television set to hear him talk about child abuse, mental illness, sex and ultimately all the current social issues. His crude style sometimes lapses into vulgarity, as in 2007, where an interview on Télé-Québec ended up never being broadcast because of middle fingers being thrown around. “I can indeed be vulgar,” he will then defend himself. Vulgarity allows you to say many things that could not be said otherwise. »
“The Doc” however exceeded the limits in 2005 on the set of the show Everybody talks about it. He proclaims in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers that studies show that “the intelligence quotient of blacks and Native Americans was significantly lower than 100.” This was too much for the College of Physicians to disbar the psychiatrist for 5 years in 2012. The decision would be reviewed two years later by the Professional Tribunal.
This controversy does nothing to silence the media beast from Lac Saint-Jean and trained in medicine at both Laval University and McGill. Feeling no remorse, he instead multiplies his hobby horses over the years. Far from it, he was ultimately written off several times during his career, but without ever losing the public’s attention for good. The professional order is “fiercely” on his case, criticizing the main person concerned who often defends himself alone before the judges. He went to the Supreme Court to obtain compensation, but without success.
His fixed ideas captivate as much as they divide. Thus passing under his intellectual knife are “feminized men”, his obsession with “Arabic culture” and “enlightened” social workers. He also wrote several books to summarize his thoughts: For the voluntary castration of pedophiles, Helping women, To raise your children, please do not put them downetc.
Approached in 2006 by the Conservative Party to enter politics, he declined the offer due to his refusal to comply with… the dress code. “I will never be forced to wear a tie while Sikhs have the freedom to wear their cape in the House of Commons,” this non-conformist personality, incapable of curbing his freedom of speech, will offer by way of explanation.
However, his voice fell silent this Friday. The family of Doc Mailloux has indicated that they want to “experience the next steps in complete privacy” and will not grant any interviews.