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Belinda Stronach battling breast cancer: report
Updated Sat. Jun. 23 2007 8:16 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Ontario MP Belinda Stronach, who announced earlier this year she would be stepping down from federal politics, is battling breast cancer.
Stronach, an MP for the Newmarket-Aurora riding, is an executive at her father Frank Stronach's autoparts company and a former cabinet minister.
The 41-year-old is in an undisclosed hospital in the Toronto area after having undergone a mastectomy and breast reconstruction on Tuesday, the Toronto Star reports.
Stronach, a high profile politician who once dated Conservative MP Peter MacKay, is often seen with former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi and is a friend of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, has attracted media attention since she got involved with politics as a Conservative in 2003.
The attention reached a crescendo when she famously crossed the floor from the Tories to the Liberals in 2005, stunning then-boyfriend MacKay.
But her fight with cancer has been kept out of the public spotlight and she has dealt privately with her diagnosis over the last two months.
It was only this week that word of her condition began to circulate among people she is close to, and her executive assistant Greg MacEachern confirmed to the Star that Stronach had undergone surgery.
"While her personal health is a private matter, she would like to emphasize the importance of early detection and is grateful they were able to catch the disease at this early point," he told the newspaper, adding that Stronach is upbeat and positive.
The Star reports that Stronach's decision to leave politics and return to the family business had nothing to do with her disease. In fact, she had already announced her intentions when she learned of her condition, discovered through routine mammogram tests.
Stronach has a strain of cancer known as DCIS - ductal carcinoma in situ. It is a common and treatable form of the disease.
The Star reports that almost 90 per cent of those women between 30 and 49 who are diagnosed with the disease, survive.
Leading up to the mastectomy, Stronach had a lumpectomy, ultrasound, and a number of biopsies.
Despite her condition, Stronach has kept a busy schedule, attending Liberal caucus a couple of weeks ago and talking to reporters, and delivering a speech on women in politics in Regina in May.
Stronach has two children, Frank Jr., 15, and Nikki, 13.
She has said she decided not to run for re-election because she wanted to spend more time with her kids.
Updated Sat. Jun. 23 2007 8:16 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Ontario MP Belinda Stronach, who announced earlier this year she would be stepping down from federal politics, is battling breast cancer.
Stronach, an MP for the Newmarket-Aurora riding, is an executive at her father Frank Stronach's autoparts company and a former cabinet minister.
The 41-year-old is in an undisclosed hospital in the Toronto area after having undergone a mastectomy and breast reconstruction on Tuesday, the Toronto Star reports.
Stronach, a high profile politician who once dated Conservative MP Peter MacKay, is often seen with former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi and is a friend of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, has attracted media attention since she got involved with politics as a Conservative in 2003.
The attention reached a crescendo when she famously crossed the floor from the Tories to the Liberals in 2005, stunning then-boyfriend MacKay.
But her fight with cancer has been kept out of the public spotlight and she has dealt privately with her diagnosis over the last two months.
It was only this week that word of her condition began to circulate among people she is close to, and her executive assistant Greg MacEachern confirmed to the Star that Stronach had undergone surgery.
"While her personal health is a private matter, she would like to emphasize the importance of early detection and is grateful they were able to catch the disease at this early point," he told the newspaper, adding that Stronach is upbeat and positive.
The Star reports that Stronach's decision to leave politics and return to the family business had nothing to do with her disease. In fact, she had already announced her intentions when she learned of her condition, discovered through routine mammogram tests.
Stronach has a strain of cancer known as DCIS - ductal carcinoma in situ. It is a common and treatable form of the disease.
The Star reports that almost 90 per cent of those women between 30 and 49 who are diagnosed with the disease, survive.
Leading up to the mastectomy, Stronach had a lumpectomy, ultrasound, and a number of biopsies.
Despite her condition, Stronach has kept a busy schedule, attending Liberal caucus a couple of weeks ago and talking to reporters, and delivering a speech on women in politics in Regina in May.
Stronach has two children, Frank Jr., 15, and Nikki, 13.
She has said she decided not to run for re-election because she wanted to spend more time with her kids.
