Hamilton businessman and former Conservative senator David Braley has been admitted to hospital in Vancouver with a suspected bacterial infection, according to a source close to the family.
The 74-year-old was scheduled to attend an event on Thursday in support of the B.C. Lions, the Canadian Football League team he owns, but team officials said Braley had fallen ill.
He is expected to be hospital for several days but the illness is not thought to be life-threatening.
The Lions issued a statement from team president Dennis Skulsky on Thursday evening.
“David Braley has been in Vancouver visiting with club executives since Monday. Over the past couple of days, he had been feeling a little under the weather and this morning was admitted to hospital to undergo further testing,” Skulsky said.
Born in Montreal but raised in Hamilton where he attended Westdale high school, Braley has been an influential member of the community for decades. He is the owner and president of Orlick Industries Limited, an auto parts manufacturer based in Stoney Creek.
Braley has also been active as a philanthropist and contributed $5 million to the athletic centre at McMaster University, his alma mater, which now bears his name. He has also made significant donations to the Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute at Hamilton General Hospital, which also bears his name.
An avid football fan, Braley has owned the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts, as well as the Lions, and was enshrined into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
In 2010, Braley was appointed to the Senate by then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but resigned in 2013.
