7 days ago
SAAQclic: former employee defends integrity of tender process
Commissioner Denis Gallant of the Commission of Inquiry into the Management of the Modernisation of the Société de l'assurance automobile (SAAQ) IT Systems awaits the start of the public inquiry into the failures of the SAAQclic platform, under the watchful eye of chief prosecutor Simon Tremblay, in Montreal, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
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.
