Former CEO was dismissed in part for testimony that made organization look bad, Infoway says

The former chief executive of Canada Health Infoway was terminated in part because his testimony at a parliamentary committee negatively affected the public image of the federally funded organization, Infoway argued in a new legal filing.

The long-time CEO, Michael Green, was dismissed April 29, days after he testified at a House of Commons health committee to answer questions from members of Parliament about the failure of PrescribeIT, a nearly $300-million federal project to get doctors to send their prescriptions electronically.

Fewer than 5 per cent of prescriptions flowed through the service by the time Infoway’s board decided to cancel it as of May 29, as The Globe and Mail has previously reported.

Mr. Green filed a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit on July 30, alleging that he had been made a scapegoat for the program’s failure. He argued that he was owed more than $3-million in damages.

Former Canada Health Infoway CEO sues for wrongful dismissal

In a statement of defence filed Oct. 1, Infoway argued that Mr. Green “was terminated for bona fide reasons and on a without-cause basis.”

Infoway said its board had given Mr. Green performance ratings of “exceeds” and “thriving” in past years but downgraded his rating to “delivering” for the 2025-26 fiscal year because of concerns about his performance, “including the failure to establish a sustainable funding model for PrescribeIT.”

Mr. Green’s appearance at the parliamentary committee “did not meet the board’s expectations for the CEO, and negatively impacted the public reputation of Infoway and its relationship with stakeholders,” Infoway said in the statement of defence.

MPs “expressed frustration with the Plaintiff’s answers, including on questions relating to PrescribeIT’s funding and costs, adoption, executive compensation, and the rationale for the PrescribeIT’s transition away from its existing model to an open standards model,” the statement said.

The board was already considering new leadership with a different set of skills for the organization’s post-PrescribeIT future, Infoway said in its statement, adding that the committee appearance “substantiated” those concerns.

Cancelled federal ‘axe the fax’ digital prescription program gets new life in Quebec

Infoway said it offered a severance package in line with Mr. Green’s contract, which included a year’s worth of base salary and benefits, along with some bonuses, RRSP contributions and car allowance.

Before he was dismissed, Mr. Green was earning nearly $900,000 a year in total compensation and had been CEO since 2014.

Although PrescribeIT was wound down in most of the country in May, Quebec announced in the summer that it would keep a version of the program running in the province for four years. The Quebec platform, which started as a 14-pharmacy pilot project, was expanded this week to 134 sites.

In June, Health Minister Marjorie Michel’s office said it was pausing funding for Infoway and ordered a third-party audit and strategic review of the organization. On Tuesday, Ms. Michel said in the House of Commons that Infoway has still not received any federal funding this fiscal year, pending results of the review.

Conservative MP Dan Mazier, who was among those who questioned Mr. Green, said Infoway should be defunded, and pointed out that Health Canada has a seat on the organization’s board.

“For years, Infoway’s board, which the Health Minister’s own official is a member of, rated his performance as ‘exceeds’ and ‘thriving’ while $300-million was wasted on a program nobody used,” he said.