Last Tuesday, McGill announced its decision to pursue legal action against Dr. Arthur Porter, the former director general and chief executive officer of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). McGill seeks the reimbursement of $317,153.89—a total that includes a $285,000 loan granted to Porter in 2008, and $30,131.63 in salary overpayment following his resignation in December 2011.
According to the Montreal Gazette, McGill originally lent Porter $500,000 at one per cent annual interest in 2008. When Porter resigned from his position at MUHC, he had paid back $214,409 of the loan.
“Despite the fact that [Porter] had promised to reimburse the university, the amount owing remains outstanding,” McGill’s press release read. “The university has therefore decided to take action to ensure the prompt repayment of these sums.”
McGill has not disclosed the reason for the loan, nor any information regarding the university’s loan policy to date.
According to the Gazette, evidence suggests that the loan is related to Porter’s real-estate investments. Porter allegedly purchased a penthouse apartment in downtown Montreal for over $500,000 in September 2004, and his wife bought a penthouse condominium for over $1 million in December 2007.
In March 2008, Porter received the $500,000 loan from McGill, and signed a promissory note acknowledging it. The loan was signed again three months later in the presence of a notary, at which point it became a “housing loan agreement.”
Further investigation by the Gazette has revealed that, in addition to his nearly $350,000 salary as the head of the MUHC, Porter earned a second salary at McGill for teaching as a professor of oncology in the faculty of medicine. However, when the Gazette inquired into Porter’s position as a professor, none of 12 professors in the department of oncology who responded could admit to ever having seen Porter teach.
“I was surprised to learn … that Dr. Porter was receiving a salary as a professor of oncology,” Dr. Vincent Giguère, professor in oncology and biochemistry, told the Gazette. “He is not listed as a professor of oncology on our department website … and I have never seen him at departmental functions.”
McGill has refused to disclose Porter’s professorial salary to the public, saying that information about professors’ salaries is “private.”
Quebec’s anti-corruption squad is also seeking to question Porter about MUHC’s procurement of the $1.3 billion superhospital contract. However, Porter’s current whereabouts are unknown. Porter’s most recent communication with McGill was an email dated Oct. 23, in which he promised to pay back the loan.
McGill has stated that it will make no further comment on the lawsuit, as the case is currently under review by the Quebec Superior Court.
