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MP Fletcher temporarily leaving post for medical treatment
Steven Fletcher responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, on October 20, 2011. (ADRIAN WYLD/ THE CANADIAN PRESS)
OTTAWA – Winnipeg Conservative MP Steven Fletcher is temporarily leaving his post as minister of state for transport while he undergoes medical treatment.
Fletcher, 39, posted a message on his website this morning.
"I will shortly be undergoing medical treatment that will require some substantial recovery time, during which I will be unable to perform all of my duties as Minister of State (Transport)," he wrote. "I am pleased with my medical team and appreciate the support and good wishes of friends, colleagues, and constituents."
Fletcher was permanently injured in 1996 when the car he was driving hit a moose on a Manitoba highway. At the time he was a geological engineer and was on his way to a job.
He was paralyzed from the neck down and requires 24-hour care.
Fletcher was elected as the MP for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia in 2004. He was appointed to cabinet as a minister of state for democratic reform in 2008. In 2011 he was named the minister of state for transport.
He has asked for privacy while he undergoes his treatment. He was not specific about what the treatment entails.
Minister of Transport Denis Lebel will assume Fletcher’s responsibilities until Fletcher returns. He did not give a possible date for when that will be.
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