Wilbert Keon

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| name = Wilbert Keon

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|OOnt|size=100%}}

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| office = Senator for Ottawa, Ontario

| appointed = Ray Hnatyshyn

| nominator = Brian Mulroney

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| term_start = September 27, 1990

| term_end = May 17, 2010

| birth_name = Wilbert Joseph Keon

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|5|17}}

| birth_place = Sheenboro, Quebec, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|4|7|1935|5|17}}

| death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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| party = Conservative

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| occupation = heart surgeon, researcher

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}}

Wilbert Joseph Keon {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|OOnt}} (May 17, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was a Canadian physician. A heart surgeon and researcher by profession, Keon was a longtime Canadian senator.

Biography

Born in Sheenboro, Quebec, Keon received a Bachelor of Science from St. Patrick's College, Carleton University{{cite web |url=http://alumni.carleton.ca/grads/keon-wilbert/ |title=Wilbert Keon |publisher=Carleton University}} and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Ottawa.

After a period of studying and teaching at Harvard University in Boston, he returned to Ottawa in 1969. Keon founded the University of Ottawa Heart Institute at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1976, acting as its CEO for more than thirty years until his retirement from that job in April 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.champlainlhin.com/Page.aspx?id=8722 |title=Board Member Biographies |publisher=Champlain Local Health Integration Network}} In 1986, he was the first Canadian to implant an artificial heart into a human as a bridge to transplant.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9XdkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=In8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1149,60973&dq=wilbert+keon&hl=en |title=Achievements 'dwarf' doctor's humanity |newspaper=Calgary Herald |date=May 11, 1986 |page=13}} Keon retired as a working doctor and resigned from the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons in June 2010.

In 1990 Keon was appointed to the Senate by Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, where he sat as a Conservative.{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=1586|nolist=yes}} In 2010, Keon retired from the Senate upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lions-argos-owner-braley-tapped-for-senate-1.890786 |title=Lions, Argos owner Braley tapped for Senate |publisher=CBC News |date=May 20, 2010}}

Keon married Anne Jennings in 1960. They have three children: Claudia, Ryan, (who ran for the Liberal Party of Canada in the federal riding of Nepean-Carleton,{{cite news |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/liberals-ryan-keon |title=Liberals: Ryan Keon |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=April 17, 2014}}) and Neil. Keon also has a school named after him in Chapeau, Quebec. He died from a suspected heart attack on April 7, 2019, aged 83.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/doctor-former-senator-wilbert-keon-dies-1.5088783 "Renowned heart surgeon Dr. Wilbert Keon dies", CBC, April 8, 2019]

Controversy

On November 25, 1999, Keon was caught in a prostitution sting by an undercover Ottawa police officer. Shortly thereafter, on December 16 of that same year, he resigned as director of the Ottawa Heart Institute.{{cite web|last=Buchanan|first=Carrie|title=Senator Keon quits director's job at Heart Institute|url=http://www.walnet.org/csis/news/ottawa_99/citizen-991216.html|publisher=OTTAWA CITIZEN}}

Honours

In 1984 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.{{cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=888&t=12&ln=keon&lan=eng |title=Wilbert Joseph Keon |publisher=Governor General of Canada |work=Order of Canada|date=11 June 2018 }}
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Malta by Pope John Paul II.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/carletoncovoj181994carl/carletoncovoj181994carl_djvu.txt |title=101st Convocation |publisher=Carleton University |date=June 18, 1994}}
In 1990, he was appointed to the Order of Ontario.{{Cite web |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/former-senator-and-university-of-ottawa-heart-institute-founder-dr-wilbert-keon-dead-at-83 |title=Dr. Wilbert Keon: Former senator, heart institute founder dies at 83 |website=Ottawa Citizen |first1=Bruce |last=Deachman |date=2019-04-08|language=en|access-date=2019-04-08}}
In 1994 he was awarded an honorary D.Sc. from Carleton University.
In 2007, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url=http://www.cdnmedhall.org/senator-dr-wilbert-keon |title=Senator Dr. Wilbert Keon |work=Canadian Medical Hall of Fame}}