B.C. jobs minister Pat Bell has announced that he is withdrawing his nomination in the upcoming provincial election and is leaving politics due to medical concerns.
Bell has been diagnosed with a rare type of aneurism and is seeing a cardiac specialist to monitor its size to determine if he will require surgery.
“This is a critical and compelling time for our province and it’s equally critical that our team members are able to focus 100% of their attention on the task at hand,” he said yesterday in a written statement.
“With this diagnosis, I need to turn my mind to my personal health.”
The aneurism was detected last fall after Bell had seen his family doctor to check for pneumonia.
“I feel very fortunate that this was picked up because this type of aneurism is rarely detected,” Bell said.
Bell will continue in his existing role until the upcoming election.
