Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper, who has a history of asthma, sought treatment for a chest cold at the Ottawa Hospital on Thursday night.

The politician spent about an hour at the hospital and was given a prescription for antibiotics before returning home to Stornoway for the night.

"I have a chest cold and it was precautionary because of my medical history," Harper told CBC News on his way to work Friday morning.

Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper. (CP file photo)
Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper. (CP file photo)

Asked whether he had been "whisked" to the front of the line to get medical attention because of his political position, he replied: "I got whisked as much as you can get whisked in our health-care system."

Initially, an aide told the Ottawa Citizen that the Conservative leader was treated for an asthma attack.

Although Harper has described himself in the House of Commons as a "lifelong sufferer from asthma," his office said Friday morning that Harper has outgrown his childhood asthma and hasn't had an attack in years.

However, the 46-year-old politician had pneumonia a few years ago and remains susceptible to colds, his office said.

During the recent election campaign, which ended with his Conservatives winning a minority government, Harper told the Sun newspaper chain that his asthma frequently put him in hospital emergency wards for treatment.

Harper brought up his asthma during an October 2002 House of Commons debate, when an NDP member of Parliament accused his party of not caring about the environment because it opposed the Kyoto Protocol.

"Mr. Speaker, it always amazes me that a number of Canadians on that side of the spectrum, particularly in the NDP, seem to think they are the only people who have any concerns about living in the environment. I do not know where they think the rest of us live," Harper said.

"We all have fairly serious concerns about the environment and about our health. In my personal case, we are talking about the contents of the atmosphere and I have been a lifelong sufferer from asthma. I am very concerned about my respiration and how this agreement will affect my respiration."

A new study released Friday found the incidence of asthma has skyrocketed in the last two decades.

In Canada, the respiratory disorder affects 2.5 million people – 12 per cent of children and eight per cent of adults, according to the study by the Commission for Environmental Co-operation.

The Montreal-based commission was created as part of the Free Trade Agreement. It works in partnership with public health organizations and the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States.