In the wake of controversy over Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams’ surgery in the United States, CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS business panel were asked the same questions that they had been asked when Prime Minister Paul Martin was reported to be using private medicine in Canada for checkups.

Williams earns a lot more support than did Paul Martin. In Williams’ case, more panelists see no significance to the story while fewer believe that Williams’ surgery abroad demonstrates his hypocrisy.

As in the past, a majority continues to favour the evolution of a private system in parallel to the public system—73% back the presence of a private system today compared to 60% in 2002.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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