Canadian Premier Travels to US for Heart Surgery

The National Post reports that N.L. Premier Danny Williams has left Canada and will be in the United States for heart surgery later this week. The trip has raised questions as to Premier Williams' confidence in Newfoundland's health care system.

According to a new report from the National Post linked to Drudge, popular Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, 59, has departed Canada and will be in the United States for heart surgery this week. The exact destination is unknown. The news surprised many associates of Williams, who believed the avid hockey player's health was excellent. His departure is being met with both sympathy and anger as few public details of the trip have emerged. It has also raised political eyebrows as to why Premier Williams didn't undergo the surgery in his own province (where it was previously scheduled) or even somewhere else in Canada. News of the trip is spreading quickly worldwide, and pundits are already breaking down the political implications regarding the quality of the two nations' health care systems, particularly with regard to the ObamaCare bill now before Congress that would legislate into being a nationalized health care system not unlike Canada's. In the past, it has been a routine for world leaders to travel to the United States for specialized medical care, primarily because of the United States' abundance of highly trained specialists in a wide variety of fields and world-class facilities as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and Massachusetts General Hospital.