MONTREAL - It is welcome news that Dr. Arthur Porter appears destined to be returned to the scene of his alleged crimes to face justice.
The former CEO of the McGill University Health Centre and his wife were arrested during a stopover in Panama earlier this week after leaving the safe haven of the Bahamas, where he had been ensconced since leaving Montreal mere steps ahead of authorities closing in on him for alleged dirty dealings.
It was a foolish move on Porter’s part to leave the Bahamas, which has no extradition treaty with Canada, and alight in Panama, which does. Authorities there are now holding him on an international warrant in connection with an alleged $22.5-million kickback scheme. The scheme is said to have greased the awarding of the contract to build the $1.3-billion MUHC superhospital to local engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, which has lately been implicated in a host of other controversial dealings.
Porter faces an array of charges, including defrauding the government, accepting secret commissions and breach of trust. His wife, Pamela Mattock, stands accused of conspiracy and laundering the proceeds of crime.
News of Porter’s arrest and impending deportation to Canada is particularly welcome for MUHC staff who are today suffering the consequences of gross mismanagement. It was revealed earlier this year that the MUHC was facing a $115-million deficit, a shortfall greater than that registered by all other Montreal Island hospitals combined. As a result of the financial mess, there have been drastic budget cuts, job losses and bumping, as well as plummeting morale among those still working within the hospital network.
Porter has maintained his innocence on all counts against him, yet has doggedly — and it appears deviously — refused to face up to them in court. He has maintained he is stricken with cancer and given interviews while hooked to an oxygen tank. Yet photos of his arrest show him looking dapper and unencumbered. If he has proof of his innocence, it is in his best interest to accede to his extradition with the greatest possible dispatch.
The only unwelcome aspect of this week’s turn of events is that opponents of newly elected Quebec Liberal leader Philippe Couillard have seized on the arrest to smear the former health minister for his previous association with Porter, even though there is no reason to accuse Couillard of having been involved in anything improper.
The worst that can be said about Couillard in this case is that he developed a close personal relationship with Porter over the years. It is established that they went together on fishing trips, and that at one point they planned to partner in a consulting business. But that was before anything untoward about Porter had come to light, and in any case the business never got operational. It is also worth noting that the suspect contract with SNC-Lavalin was awarded well after Couillard had resigned as health minister and left the government.
While Couillard did not address the latest attempt to impute guilt by association against him, he did address it when the matter came up during his run for the Liberal leadership. At the time, he said he was fooled by Porter, but that there were many others who had been equally taken in.
These, among others, included the MUHC search committee that chose Porter to head the organization and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who named him to head the oversight committee for the national security service, and to the Privy Council.
Until such time as Porter or anyone else offers evidence that incriminates Couillard in malfeasance, any suggestions that his association with Porter means he is guilty of something are merely slander.