Energy Minister Barry Barnet had a mild heart attack shortly after returning from Korea, it was revealed yesterday. The minister is now back at work.
Barnet got back March 27 from the business trip to Asia with Premier Rodney MacDonald and several other government staffers. Barnet first felt unwell on the trip and spent a day in a Korean hospital.
He was cleared to fly home but last Monday, three days after landing in Canada, he was in the hospital.
“I had a clogged artery, that’s the major contributor to it,” Barnet said. “He put a stint in, and an angioplasty, and cleared it up.”
Barnet said the news wasn’t made public at the time because he wasn’t sure of the diagnosis and didn’t want to worry people. Though there are some lingering problems, he said he now feels fine and will still run in the rumoured upcoming election.
“I feel good,” said Barnet. “If the election was tomorrow I’d be out there knocking on doors tomorrow.”
