UPDATED: Premier heart surgery: on reporting, despite a 'cone of silence'



Our CBC colleague David Cochrane, the provincial affairs reporter for Newfoundland and Labrador who follows Danny Williams closely at the legislature in St. John's, sends along these thoughts on how the rather mysterious tale of the premier's upcoming heart surgery is unfolding:

When news of this broke, my blackberry started hopping around like a landed trout. In less than an hour I got more than 100 emails, blackberry PINs and texts. Everyone in town wanted to know what was going on. I even got a phone call from a real estate agent who wanted to know what was going on. This is a capital city. But it's a small town.

It's a difficult story to chase. On the one hand, you are dealing with the private medical issues of a public figure. On the other hand, you are dealing with the head of the government that's in charge of the health care system going south of the border to go under the knife, and possibly being off work for up to three months.

The questions about why Williams had to go to the United States began right away. Those questions were being asked in an information vacuum. Nobody knew how sick he was. Nobody knew if the procedure could be done in Newfoundland and Labrador, or even in Canada.

Then there is the fact that Williams is worth close to a quarter of a billion dollars, and can afford to buy the best care in the world.

The reaction here is very mixed.  Many people said it shows a lack of confidence in the health care system. But that was before the explanation that the procedure can't be done here. An equal number say it is Williams' own business, and how he manages his health is none of our business. Many say if they had the cash, they would do the same thing.

My sense is that the government has told us about as much as they can on the intimate details of Williams' health issues: they've told us he needs heart surgery, and he will need three to 12 weeks to recover. Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale will be the acting premier in his absence. They will give us an update next week after the surgery is performed.

Williams is promising a full explanation when he recovers. But until then there is a "cone of silence" on any details.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you ever needed to leave Canada/go to the United States for health care treatment?

UPDATE: Fox News has picked up on this post, and quoted a couple of selective lines from it, in Bret Baier's Political Grapevine column.