Explainer: Public inquiry begins in SAAQclic scandal

Montreal Gazette

24-04-2025

Quebec Politics
By
A public inquiry into a digital modernization attempt by Quebec's auto insurance corporation that went half a billion dollars over budget and led to fewer people using its online services began Thursday in Montreal.
Overseen by Denis Gallant, a municipal court judge, the commission will attempt to find out what actually happened as the budget ballooned for the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec's new software system, which includes an online portal for motorists, known as SAAQclic, whose launch has been widely described as a 'fiasco.'
The scandal has already led to the resignation of a provincial cabinet minister and, as the inquiry begins, commissioner Gallant is defending himself from conflict of interest allegations made by opposition parties due to his past professional relationship with a senior provincial minister.
What was the SAAQclic fiasco?
In 2015, the SAAQ, which administers driver's licences, car registration and the public portion of auto insurance, began a program to modernize its digital systems, that included a platform known as SAAQclic, which allows people to renew driver's licences, make payments and book driving tests online.
In the weeks before SAAQclic was rolled out in February 2023, the SAAQ reduced services for customers as data was transferred to the new software. But when it launched, motorists were unable to do even basic transactions online.
At one point the system crashed completely, some users found documents they tried to download were blank, while others struggled to sign up at all — or had to wait for a code to come in the mail to create an account.
That forced drivers to go to SAAQ offices, where many waited in line for hours.
Is that it?
It gets worse. Two years later, a report by Quebec's auditor general revealed that the digital transformation, known as the CASA program, had gone around $500 million over budget, with the final cost estimated to reach at least $1.1 billion by 2027.
Despite the increased costs, the auditor general found that services at SAAQ counters are taking longer than before the new system was rolled out and that fewer drivers are using the SAAQclic platform than used the SAAQ's old online services.
The auditor general also found that the SAAQ split a $222 million contract into smaller pieces to cover cost overruns into smaller pieces, so that not all of them would be included in a online database of government contracts.
Following the damning auditor general's report, Éric Caire resigned as Quebec's minister of cybersecurity and digital affairs. While Caire denied he did anything wrong, reports have revealed that he issued a ministerial order allowing the SAAQ to circumvent normal rules in order to mask the $222 million contract.
François Bonnardel, who was the minister of transportation when the platform was being created, has said he was lied to about the project, but Le Devoir has reported that Bonnardel attended a secret meeting with SAAQ executives in September 2021 where he was told the project was already more than $200 million over budget.
Earlier this month, the Autorité des marchés publics, Quebec's public procurement authority, ordered the SAAQ to suspend all contracts related to the SAAQclic project for 30 days, though that suspension was lifted on Thursday.
What is the commission of inquiry?
The commission, which will begin hearing from witnesses on Monday, is intended to find out what caused the problems as the project was planned, contracts were awarded, the project went over budget and the SAAQclic platform was launched, Gallant said, and what SAAQ decision makers and Quebec cabinet ministers knew.
'We will find the truth, no matter the people or parties involved,' he said during his opening remarks.
The commission, which will hold sessions in Montreal and Quebec City, is expected to begin with testimony related to the auditor general's report. A Sept. 30 deadline has been set for it final report, which will also include recommendations.
While the commission has the power to compel witnesses to appear before it and to order documents to be produced, Gallant said several times that it is not a civil or criminal trial and is intended not to interfere with other investigations, or legal proceedings, that may take place.
Gallant, who was a Charbonneau Commission prosecutor, said he deliberately looked for people who had worked at that inquiry — which ran from 2011 to 2015 and investigated corruption in the awarding of public construction contracts in Quebec — as he worked to quickly build an experienced team.
What's the problem with that?
Earlier this month, Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji said Gallant should recuse himself and the commission should start from scratch because Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel was the chief prosecutor at the Charbonneau Commission and may be called to testify about the SAAQclic fiasco.
Opposition parties have also raised concerns about the relationship between commission chief investigator Robert Pigeon and LeBel's spouse, a former Sûreté du Québec agent, and the fact that the commission's secretary-general, Véronyck Fontaine, used to work closely with former SAAQ CEO Denis Marsolais.
Gallant said Thursday that everyone at the commission, including himself, who worked with LeBel will fill out a conflict of interest declaration and that any meetings or testimony involving her will be handled by other investigators, prosecutors and lawyers.
He said the same process will be applied if there are any other potential conflicts of interest.