Science and Technology for Canadians

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Summary

Dr. J.A. Amyot became Deputy Minister when the Federal Department of Health was created in 1919. Dr. Amyot's career was noted both for significant public health accomplishments and for his career in the public service including the introduction of water filtration and chlorination, and the pasteurization of milk -- both of which are now taken for granted by Canadians.

Transcript of Video

Jay Ingram
Throughout the week on Earth Tones, we've been focusing on some of Canada's greatest environmental achievements. Tonight we introduce you to a scientist who is owed an awful lot of drinks in this country.

Female narrator
This is one of Canada's oldest water treatment plants, an elegant facility that opened in 1932. It's still in operation today. Not only does it provide safe drinking water to a million people, it's also a monument to a man you might call the grandfather of preventive medicine in Canada, our first deputy minister of health, Dr. John Amyot.

Robert McMurtry
John Amyot is a genuine Canadian hero and he's been somewhat overlooked by history. He was a real pioneer in Canada and in public health, and it really is to him that we owe the safety of our public drinking water.

Female narrator
Ninety years ago, typhoid epidemics were not uncommon on the Great Lakes. At the time, Toronto had a population of 300,000, and typhoid killed about 90 people a year. Back then, sewage went straight into the lake, and drinking water came straight out, without either being treated. Dr. Amyot was convinced that the typhoid was in the water.

Robert McMurtry
He showed that the problem did arise from the sewage and the failure to treat it, and with some help from other activists, especially women, he was able to convince the civic authorities to filter and chlorinate the water. As a consequence, typhoid disappeared. This is an enormous achievement by Dr. Amyot.

Female narrator
Dr. Amyot also took a leading role in bringing the pasteurization of milk to Canada. Dr. Amyot's expertise in hygiene and sanitation won him acclaim during the First World War, where among other things, he implemented methods for preventing trench feet and the spread of respiratory infections. He also doctored soldiers stricken with deadly flu during the 1918 epidemic.

Robert McMurtry
He had an enormous impact too on the Canadian forces in World War I, and indeed, his insights helped save the lives, not only of many Canadian soldiers, but other Allied soldiers as well.

Female narrator
Dr. Amyot was almost as well known in the United States as in Canada, for his work as a member of the international joint commission investigating pollution in the Great Lakes. He was also instrumental in the production of vaccines for typhoid and smallpox, antitoxins for tetanus and diphtheria, as well as rabies serum, all with minimal equipment in Ontario's provincial labs. So many of the health measures we take for granted today were introduced by John Amyot.

Robert McMurtry
Dr. Amyot is without question a giant, and if perchance, we see a bit further in this modern era, it's because we're standing on the shoulders of this giant. The things that he did in his life, it's hard to believe he had but one lifetime... they've made such a difference to so many people.

Earth Tones is produced in co-operation with Health Canada.