08/24/2026
Black Canadian Veterans honouring Dr John "Doug" Salmon Born Dec 13, 1923, in Toronto to Jamaican immigrants Eugenie, a Black Cross (the Marcus Garvey-originated medical corps) nurse, and Robert, a veteran of the Boer War, Douglas was the youngest of six children.
They became orphaned during the Great Depression when Douglas was 6. Their mother's sister, Margaret BROWN (Aunt Mag), a childless widow in her 50s, stepped in to raise them. SALMON was independent and strong-willed even as a child. His late sister, Stevella, used to recall that even from a very young age, her baby brother was always insistent that "I'm going to be a docta!"
Young Douglas SALMON would let nothing stand in his way, according to the family history. Always resourceful and self-motivated he would go around the neighbourhood and light furnaces for a penny, as well as work three paper routes so he, too, could contribute to the family. In the 1940s, "Doug Salmon & his Orchestra" entertained at dances, parties and lodges in and around Toronto.
Not escaping the realities of racism of the day, SALMON became a protest leader on the Race Discrimination Committee (1942), which battled for the rights of blacks to enter Toronto's Palais Royale to see jazz greats such as Duke Ellington. The protest came after he and a group of Friends were denied admission to the Palais Royale to hear Earl "Fatha" Hines play piano.
In a 1992 interview with the Star, SALMON said while Canada didn't have segregation in those days, blacks did find themselves shut out of places. "You didn't see blacks as salespersons. As far as education was concerned, you saw few blacks introduced to university.
" In 1951, he obtained his honours degree in physiology and biochemistry from the University of Toronto, and in 1955, his medical degree, graduating president of his second medical year. SALMON received scholarships from the American Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation and interned at Toronto Western Hospital.
In 1954, his sister Bea introduced him to Beverley BELL, a young Victorian Order nurse. They were married in 1956 and immediately moved to Detroit. Although he was offered a thriving practice in Detroit, the couple chose to return to Toronto and started a family.
They had four children: J. Douglas Jr., Warren, Heather and Leslie. In 1967, SALMON joined Scarborough Centenary Hospital's general surgical staff. He was the busiest general surgeon there for many years, which his colleagues attributed to not only his superior skills and training, but also his work ethic, conscientious patient care, disciplined lifestyle and great personality.
SALMON was known for his courage, humility and compassion, as he became one of the first surgeons in Canada to treat the morbidly obese with breakthrough gastric bypass surgery. SALMON became president of Centenary's medical staff and was later appointed chief of general surgery, the first black person in Canada to hold such positions. After retiring from Centenary Hospital in 1995, he joined the Rudd Clinic in downtown Toronto.
He retired from practice in 1997. SALMON was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. In recognition of his outstanding stature and service to the community, he was awarded the Canadian Black Achievement Award, Medicine. In tribute to their beloved husband and father, his family has established the Dr. John Douglas Graham Salmon Award for Black Medical Students, administered through the University of Toronto's faculty of medicine
