Jean Chretien Being Treated in Montreal for Heart Bypass: Liberal Source

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL – Former prime minister Jean Chretien has been admitted to the Montreal Heart Institute after being forced to cancel an address in Vancouver.

A Liberal source confirmed Wednesday that Chretien is undergoing heart bypass surgery. A spokeswoman for the hospital says the former prime minister was hospitalized after he underwent certain examinations.

The 73-year-old Chretien, who led Liberal governments for a decade after crushing the Conservatives in 1993, was supposed to speak to an Asia-Pacific mining conference luncheon Tuesday.

But organizers say he cancelled at the last minute after feeling sick and being advised by his doctor not to travel from his home in Ottawa.

The heart institute says further details about his conditions will be released by the hospital or Chretien’s family later in the day.

Chretien, who rose to prominence as a minister in Pierre Trudeau’s government, stepped down as prime minister and Liberal leader in 2003 amid infighting with eventual successor Paul Martin and the so-called sponsorship and Shawinigate scandals.