Marc Garneau died after ‘short but very difficult battle’ with cancer, former staffer says [Video]

Marc Garneau died this week after being diagnosed with two types of cancer earlier this year, his former staffer says.

The first Canadian to travel to space and former cabinet minister died on Wednesday. He was 76.

Marc Roy, Garneau’s former chief of staff, told CBC’s Power & Politics that the former minister had been diagnosed with lymphoma and leukemia earlier this year.

“He fought a short but very difficult battle with two very rare types of cancer,” Roy told host David Cochrane.

“Although his diagnosis was only a couple of months ago, he was well until four or five weeks ago. So it went very, very quickly … it’s a very, very tough loss.”

Roy said Garneau only shared his diagnosis with a small circle that agreed to respect his wish for privacy.

“[It was] something he wanted to keep with his family so he could concentrate on his time with his family and not distract his family by the attention …