MONTREAL -- Police have begun extradition proceedings for the former head of the MUHC.
Arthur Porter and his wife Pamela were arrested Monday while in Panama, then briefly released before being re-arrested on fraud charges. The two are currently being detained in a Panama City jailhouse, according to Anne-Frederick Laurence, spokesperson for the Quebec anti-corruption squad known as UPAC.
Porter has 15 days to fight his extradition to Canada
Porter is the former head of Canada's Spy-Agency watchdog, and leader of the project to build the McGill University Health Centre.
Several months ago Quebec police announced they wanted to charge Porter in connection with the province's ongoing corruption scandals.
The pair's arrest was announced in a statement Monday by Quebec's anti-corruption police watchdog, which said the operation was carried out with the help of the RCMP and Interpol.
"Extradition proceedings are being undertaken against the two," the statement said.
Porter became head of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which monitors the work of CSIS, two years after he was appointed to the watchdog by the Harper government in 2008.
At the same time that Porter held his federal role, he was director general of the McGill University Health Centre -- which is now mired deep in scandals and the subject of multiple criminal charges.
The MUHC issued a terse statement Monday evening, "This is a police matter. Justice is following its course. The MUHC continues to cooperate with the authorities," it read.
Forrmer MUHC executive director, Hugh Scott – Porter’s predecessor in the job from 1998 to 2004 -- expressed sadness about the affair when interviewed at his home Monday night by CTV Montreal.
Scott, who said he was “somewhat surprised” at Porter’s initial nomination, thought Porter deserved a chance.
But he concedes that the experiment has come to a rueful end with Porter’s arrest.
“I’m surprised, like everyone else but I also hope that this is – if you can call it that – the beginning of the end. This has been very upsetting for a really fine organization, the MUHC and it needs, we need, everybody needs, closure. I guess Dr. Porter needs closure too.”
Scott said that the Porter affair threatens to suck energy away from the difficult work of completing the new hospital.
“A lot of people have devoted a lot of their lives and careers into the hospital and it remains something with financial potential. I think this is an incredible distraction and for those trying to make the thing move forward, it’s very difficult to do a job when there are these other things going on.”
Porter abruptly resigned from his federal post in November 2011, ultimately quitting his hospital role as well and leaving the country.
The Sierra Leone-born Porter faces charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud against the government, breach of trust, laundering the proceeds of crime, and participating in a secret commission. His wife faces charges of laundering criminal proceeds and conspiracy.
Porter is one of several people facing fraud-related charges stemming from the construction of the $3.1-billion McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, one of Canada's biggest infrastructure projects, set to open in 2015. Others charged include the former head of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
Police announced the charges against Porter in February. A month later, the McGill University Health Centre said it was cancelling plans to pave an "Arthur T. Porter Way" on the hospital property.
Porter had been managing director of a private cancer treatment centre in the Bahamas.
He told media that he had late, stage-four cancer and was too ill to travel to Canada.
"I don't want them to think I would chicken out on anything," he told The Associated Press during an interview in February.
"So if they want to come here, absolutely no problem."
Couillard unavailable for comment
The arrest led to a new round of queries in Quebec City about now-Liberal leader Phillipe Couillard's past relationship with Porter. The two collaborated closely together while Couillard served as provincial health minister in the Charest Liberal government between 2003 and 2008..
Quebec Health Minister Dr. Réjean Hébert spoke at length with reporters Tuesday to demand that Couillard clarify his relationship with Porter.
Future Coalition Party (CAQ) leader François Legault also chimed in with a similar demand for more details of Couillard’s relationship with Porter
Couillard was unavailable for comment, as he was on a tour of the Gaspe area. Couillard's press attache said that Couillard's visit out of town had been scheduled since last week, although media had not been informed of the trip in advance, as is custom.
Ottawa reacts
The story was big news in Ottawa as well, as the federal Conservatives attempted to avoid the fallout from their association with his through his high-ranking CSIS appointment.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, applauded Porter's arrest. "While I can't comment on a specific case, I can say that anyone involved in corruption must face the full force of the law," Toews said.
"Arthur Porter resigned nearly two years ago; these allegations have no connection to his role with the federal government."
In 2008, Porter became head of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which monitors the work of CSIS. That appointment came two years after he was named to the watchdog by the Harper government.
Porter abruptly resigned from his federal post in November 2011, ultimately quitting his hospital role as well and leaving the country.
Porter has been working as the managing director of a private cancer treatment centre in the Bahamas, where he now resides. He told media a few months ago that he had late, stage-four cancer and was too ill to travel to Canada.
Porter looked frail in images that appeared with news reports in recent months.
But a video clip of Porter's arrest, released by media Tuesday, appeared to show a healthier-looking man. The handcuffed doctor was shown walking through a parking lot, flanked by police officers.
Another clip showed a cuffed Pamela Porter also being escorted by police.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
