A MASTER NETWORKER
DURING HIS TIME IN MONTREAL, Arthur Porter, once head of the MUHC, was quickly propelled into powerful positions
“I have … always supported political parties that are aligned to my political inclinations whether they are in power or not.”
ARTHUR PORTER
Almost as soon as Arthur Porter arrived in Montreal in 2004 to head the McGill University Health Centre, he began cultivating close ties to the political parties in power as he had done in Detroit before.
During his time at the MUHC, Porter attended a garden party hosted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, founded a company with former Quebec health minister Philippe Couillard after Couillard left public office and was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada by then-governor general Michaëlle Jean.
But as Porter’s time at the MUHC comes under scrutiny by investigators probing the awarding of the contract to build the superhospital — as well as a government monitor who is overseeing the day-to-day financial management of the health network — those ties have become a political liability for at least one of his former allies now running for the Quebec Liberal leadership.
During a debate on Jan. 27, candidate Raymond Bachand blasted fellow candidate Couillard for “partnering with Arthur Porter.”
Couillard now says he was “fooled” by Porter, the central figure in multiple controversies that have been uncovered in the wake of his departure from the hospital network in December 2011. But Couillard says he is not the only one to have been fooled, adding that he belongs to a list that includes other politicians, including “heads of state.”
Porter’s networking strategy, which he has employed in every city where he has worked, included making thousands of dollars in donations to the political parties in power at the federal and provincial levels over a fiveyear period. And that overall networking strategy propelled him to powerful positions: chairman of Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee, and executive director of the 15,000-employee MUHC.
Porter has since resigned from both those positions amid conflict-of-interest allegations, and provincial police have seized an extensive cache of his documents stemming from his time at the MUHC as part of an investigation into the awarding of the $1.3-billion superhospital contract. His appointment to the Privy Council of Canada, however, is a lifetime appointment.
Porter quit his job as CEO of the debt-ridden Detroit Medical Center at the end of 2003, and he convinced a MUHC hiring committee that he would be able to win Quebec government approval for what at the time was a stalled superhospital project.
In the summer of 2005, Porter flew to Baltimore, Md., with Premier Jean Charest and Couillard to persuade the Shriners at their annual convention to keep their pediatric orthopedic hospital in Montreal. It was during the Baltimore trip that Porter and Couillard spent long days together lobbying the Shriners. In the evenings, Porter, Couillard and then-Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay dined together. And Tremblay, Couillard and Porter celebrated together when the Shriners voted to keep their hospital in Montreal.
The following year, Porter turned his attention to the federal political scene. On May 29, 2007, Porter attended a garden party at 24 Sussex Dr. hosted by Harper. He posed for pictures with Harper, along with Conservative Senator David Angus, who at the time was chairman of the board of directors of the MUHC.
On Sept. 4, 2008, Porter was appointed to the Privy Council of Canada by the governor general at a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. The position confers upon the individual the title of “Honourable,” and the right to add the initials P.C., for privy councillor, after one’s name.
Later that day, Harper named Porter to the fivemember Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the country’s spy watchdog, entrusted with the nation’s most sensitive secrets.
The MUHC announced the appointments in a press release that highlighted Porter’s “extensive international background, which includes business, medical practice and academic leadership positions in Canada, Europe, Af- rica and the United States.”
On June 15, 2009, Porter and Couillard were elected directors of mining company Canadian Royalties, almost a year after Couillard resigned as health minister and as a member of the National Assembly. Porter’s résumé includes an ownership stake in Calone Mining in his home country of Sierra Leone. The two sat on the board of Canadian Royalties until Dec. 16 of that year.
On June 24, 2010, Harper promoted Porter to the pos- ition of chairman of the SIRC. Porter had continued to make regular contributions to the Conservative Party. That same day, Couillard was appointed a member of SIRC. Later that year, Porter and Couillard became partners in a consulting-services company. Couillard insists that the company — whose name has not been disclosed — never got off the ground and is inactive.
At a MUHC fundraising announcement in October 2011, The Gazette asked Porter about his qualifications to serve as SIRC chairman. Porter responded that as a radiation oncologist with an understanding of nuclear physics, he was in a unique position to assess potential security threats to Canada.
On Nov. 10, 2011, Porter tendered his resignation as head of SIRC following news reports that he wired $200,000 in personal funds to Ari BenMenashe, a former international arms dealer based in Montreal, for an infrastructure deal in Porter’s native Sierra Leone that ultimately fell through. What’s more, Angus, who’d retired from the Senate, told the National Post that same month that Porter — in his position as “Ambassador Plenipotentiary” to Sierra Leone — offered him the position of honorary consul general to the African country, and Angus declined.
On Dec. 5, 2011, amid reports of Porter’s increasing business interests outside the MUHC — in apparent violation of the Quebec Health Act — Porter resigned as head of the hospital network, four months ahead of his planned retirement. Despite the mounting controversy surrounding Porter, the MUHC threw two lavish farewell parties for him, including a reception at the exclusive Mount-Royal club.
Former Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc, Angus, McGill president Heather Munroe-Blum and Couillard were among the more than 300 attendees at the reception, at which the MUHC announced it would designate the private curving road in front of the superhospital “Arthur T. Porter Way.” The MUHC is now considering dropping that designation.
Before his career at the MUHC, Porter made political donations in the United States.
In 2003, Porter donated $25,000 to the Republican National Committee, which was at the time the maximum that an individual was permit- ted to give a national party committee, according to U.S. records. That same year, he donated $2,000 to the BushCheney ’04 re-election campaign, again the maximum that an individual could give to a candidate.
During his tenure in the U.S., Porter was often reported to be on a shortlist of candidates to become the next surgeon-general, a prestigious position appointed by the president.
While at the MUHC, Porter often drew attention to his political connections. In his office, Porter kept framed photographs of himself posing with Harper as well as former U.S. president George W. Bush and former vicepresident Dick Cheney.
Porter has been living in the Bahamas for more than a year. In a Jan. 30 email response to a Gazette query about his U.S. and Canadian political donations, he explained the rationale behind his campaign-financing strategy.
“I have been involved in the political process for over 35 years and in many jurisdictions, have always supported political parties that are aligned to my political inclinations whether they are in power or not,” Porter said. “These are personal choices that I make.”