SAAQclic: former employee defends integrity of tender process
On Tuesday, a former employee of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) defended the integrity of the tender process for the development of the SAAQclic platform, saying no one was subjected to undue pressure to select suppliers.
Jean-Marc Perrotte testified before the Gallant Commission, which is investigating the failures of the Crown corporation's digital transformation. He was a member of the selection committee that recommended awarding the contract to the consortium formed by SAP and LGS in 2017.
'As a member of the selection committee, I never experienced any interference, either internally within the company or externally,' he said. 'And to my knowledge — you could ask them — I have not heard any rumours that anyone exerted any pressure on the seven of us to choose the alliance we chose.'
The former employee worked on the SAAQ's IT project, known as CASA, after his involvement in the tendering process. He left the company to retire in July 2018.
Last week, the commission revealed documents referring to 'an appearance of favouritism' and 'a perception of favouritism towards one alliance' among certain members of advisory committees.
The purpose of the committees was to advise the selection committee on specific aspects of the bids received. Among the members of these committees were external consultants hired to prepare the tendering process.
SAAQ executive Nicolas Vincent, who oversaw the advisory committees, testified on this subject last week. He said that 'a perception' emerged 'that those who had prepared the tender were favouring a solution from SAP,' the software provider.
Perrotte was also a member of one of the advisory committees. He recalled the presence of external resources who took up more space and evaluated bids with lower scores than other committee members during a meeting.
After reporting this situation to the SAAQ's contract management team, Perrotte said he never saw these external individuals again at subsequent meetings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 3, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
a minute ago
- CTV News
Ford vows to 4-lane final stretch of Hwy. 69
Progress being reported on four-laning the final 68-km stretch of Highway 69 between Sudbury and Toronto. There appears to be progress on four-laning the remaining stretch of Highway 69 between Sudbury and Toronto in Ontario. Currently, approximately 68 kilometres of the highway from Henvey Inlet First Nation to Nobel remains incomplete. At a news conference in Thunder Bay on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford was asked about expanding all of Highways 11 and 17, rather than focusing solely on areas near the Manitoba border. Ford expressed strong support for the idea. Doug Ford Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in Thunder Bay, Ont., on July 31, 2025. (File photo/CTV News) Ford backs northern highway upgrades 'We're spending $200 billion on infrastructure, spending a fortune on roads and highways –I think it's up to $35 billion – but I'm all in, and I want to make sure our highways are safe,' Ford told reporters. 'It's treacherous, especially not just here, but have you ever gone from Sudbury down to the city? Like that two-lane – that was like white-knuckled driving down there. If a transport is off by two inches, you're done.' The premier highlighted an agreement with three First Nations communities to secure land for the project. 'We've bought their piece of property, and so we're going to be twinning that. We've made that announcement, and my goal is to make sure our highways are safe,' he said. Northern winters highlight need for safety improvements Ford emphasized the dangers of northern Ontario winters, stating that those in urban centres may not fully grasp the challenges. 'My message to people in the city – you have no clue until you come up to the north and you drive in the winter,' he said. 'We drove all through the north during the election. Snow was coming down – we had a pretty heavy winter. It's terrifying.' He added that northern Ontario's harsh conditions are something one must experience firsthand to truly understand. Timeline still unclear While Ford confirmed that Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford has been pushing to complete the project, no start date for construction has been announced. Provincial officials say Ontario remains committed to improving highway safety, with further details expected in the coming months.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Portable sauna units worth roughly $75K stolen from owner's lot in Winnipeg
The owner of a Winnipeg sauna company is worried about his family's livelihood and the future of their business after he said three of their mobile units were stolen from a lot ahead of its busiest season for rentals. The mobile saunas, made out of cedar and resembling the shape of a barrel, were picked by a black Dodge Ram, which then drove away from the lot on Archibald Street, Amir Hamed, owner of the Backyard Barrel business, told CBC News. The theft lasted a number of hours with the first barrel seen towed on surveillance footage at around 11 p.m. Friday and the last just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, Hamed said. "I honestly never thought they would get stolen, we even had the wheel locks on them … the back doors were locked," he said. "It's really unfortunate, but we're trying to make the best of it," Hamed said. "They're each worth $25,000, so we have $75,000 roughly missing." Winnipeg police said they received a report about the incident which will be referred to the property crimes unit for a follow-up investigation. The Backyard Barrel business operates five mobile units and Hamed said the two that weren't stolen had been rented out. Hamed had been trying to sell the business to spend more time with his family. He managed to secure a buyer but the deal fell through on Friday and hours later the three mobile units were stolen from his property. While he doesn't think the sale is related to the theft, both happening on the same day is "a lot of stuff to deal with." He is afraid the saunas will be torn apart and sold in pieces. But he remains hopeful the units can be recovered without major damages before September when the demand for mobile units starts to soar as temperature begins to drop. "This is our livelihood and it's going to impact selling it drastically," Hamed said. He is encouraging people to keep an eye for the units, in case they are listed for sale online. They are trademarked and have a tin roof, a wooden stove and a panoramic window.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Advance voting underway in provincial riding of Arthabaska
A person votes in Montreal on the first Monday of October 2018, election day in Quebec. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes) Advance voting is taking place this weekend in the provincial riding of Arthabaska, in Quebec's Centre-du-Québec region, ahead of the Aug. 11 byelection. Ten candidates are in the running. The race appears to be shaping up as a contest between Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime and Parti Québécois candidate Alex Boissonneault. The governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) is fielding Keven Brasseur. Other candidates from parties represented in the National Assembly include Chantale Marchand for the Quebec Liberal Party and Pascale Fortin for Québec solidaire. Also running with authorization from Élections Québec are Louis Chandonnet (Équipe autonomiste), Denis Gagné (independent), Trystan Martel (Climat Québec), Arpad Nagy (independent) and Éric Simard (Union nationale). The byelection was triggered by the resignation of CAQ MNA Éric Lefebvre, who left provincial politics mid-mandate to run federally. He was elected April 28 under the Conservative Party of Canada banner in the federal riding of Richmond–Arthabaska. In the last Quebec general election in October 2022, Lefebvre was handily re-elected with 51.75 per cent of the vote — more than 12,200 votes ahead of his closest challenger, Conservative candidate Tarek Henoud. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 3, 2025.
