N.L. Premier Danny Williams has been released from hospital after undergoing heart surgery in the United States, his office said Thursday, as a new opinion poll suggested public support was split on his decision to leave Canada for medical treatment.
A spokeswoman for the premier said in an email statement that he is "on the road to recovery" after an operation earlier this month.
"Doctors are very pleased with his progress," Elizabeth Matthews wrote.
Matthews did not say where the surgery was performed, or what the procedure was -- remaining as tight-lipped as before Williams left.
Matthews also refused to say whether the premier has returned to Newfoundland, saying that information is not relevant.
No further update on the premier's recovery is expected until just before he returns to work, the email stated tersely.
The 60-year-old Williams set off a controversy over the state of Canadian health care when he announced he was travelling to an undisclosed American clinic for heart surgery.
But according to a new poll, conducted for The Canadian Press last week, that decision did not hurt his popularity at home.
The Harris Decima survey, which contacted just over 2,000 people, found 65 per cent of people in Atlantic Canada thought Williams's trip south for surgery was appropriate.
Overall, 44 per cent of Canadians supported his decision while 42 per cent did not, the poll suggested. It found 52 per cent of British Columbians supported the premier, but just over half of Quebeckers were critical of his decision.
The telephone survey is considered accurate to within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Acting premier Kathy Dunderdale said last week that Williams is expected to return to work in early March.
Dunderdale has said that having the surgery in Newfoundland and Labrador was never an option offered to the premier by his doctors. However, heart specialists have said any cardiac surgery available in the U.S. can also be conducted in Canada.
