ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the thalidomide tragedy that occurred in Canada in 1962. Through the study of various primary sources, including letters sent by citizens to the federal Minister of Health and newspaper coverage of the tragedy, we provide an analysis of the public debates provoked by babies born with phocomelia in order to better assess the conception Quebec and Canadian societies had of disabled persons at the beginning of the 1960s. Inspired by the French philosopher Marie-Claire Cagnolo's classification scheme of the "logics" that characterized the treatment of disabled persons through history, the study concludes that a "separatist logic of elimination" clearly arose, while a "paternalistic logic of reparation" also began to appear. A "societal logic of integration", however, did not emerge, as concern was limited to the fate of thalidomide babies, rather than that of all disabled children.
