Latest news with #SAAQ
CTV News
2 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
SAAQclic: Cost overruns possibly a ‘small detail' overlooked
Monitors are seen in the courtroom of the Gallant Commission, a public inquiry into the failures of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec's platform, SAAQclic, in Montreal on Thursday, Apr 24, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press) It is 'quite possible' that the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) failed, at the time of the call for tenders, to consider a scenario in which its digital transformation budget was completely exhausted, according to testimony from a former strategic advisor. On Wednesday, the Gallant commission examined how the call for tenders was developed to find the consortium tasked with creating the SAAQclic platform. It heard from individuals who supported the Crown corporation during that process. Madeleine Chagnon, an external strategic advisor hired for the project, found herself defending what the SAAQ had included in the tender documents in case of cost overruns beyond the initial budget envelope. Chagnon pointed to a risk-sharing clause that outlined certain mechanisms, including potential rate reductions and the option to draw from savings achieved by completing parts of the project more efficiently than expected. She also mentioned a contingency — a percentage of the original budget set aside for unforeseen issues. Commission lawyer Vincent Ranger pressed Chagnon on what had been planned in the event all those funds were used up. 'I think that behind these big ideas of risk-sharing and innovation, a small detail may have been forgotten in the original call for tenders — namely, what would happen in the event of cost overruns. Is that possible?' the lawyer asked. 'We added the concept of zero additional costs and, afterwards, look — maybe. I can't tell you no. It's possible, quite possible,' Chagnon replied. Ranger then presented a document showing questions submitted by potential suppliers during the tendering process. One of them asked how cost overruns would be handled if the entire contingency amount was spent. The response was that it was a 'risk that must be managed,' and that the phased approach to the project 'would help anticipate that type of situation.' It was also noted that the SAAQ did not foresee 'any increase to the budget envelope' and that 'should that envelope be exceeded,' the corporation 'may terminate the business relationship.' The SAAQ's tech modernization project could cost at least $1.1 billion by 2027 — $500 million more than originally planned, according to calculations by the Auditor General. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French June 4, 2025.
Montreal Gazette
a day ago
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Former SAAQ employee defends contract bidding process
A former employee of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) defended the integrity of the tendering process for the development of the SAAQclic platform on Tuesday. He said no one was subjected to excessive pressure in selecting suppliers. Jean-Marc Perrotte testified before the Gallant Commission, which is investigating the shortcomings of the Crown corporation's digital transformation. He was a member of the selection committee that recommended signing the contract with the consortium formed by SAP and LGS in 2017. 'As for the selection committee, I never experienced any interference, either internally or externally,' he said. 'And to my knowledge — you could ask them — (as for) the other members, I haven't heard that anyone put any pressure on the seven of us to choose the alliance we did.' Perrotte worked on the SAAQ's IT project, known as CASA, after his involvement in the tendering process. He retired in July 2018. Last week, the commission revealed documents indicating 'a perception of favouritism toward a consortium' among certain advisory committee members. The committees' purpose 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. An SAAQ executive, Nicolas Vincent, who oversaw the advisory committees, testified on this matter last week. He said that 'a perception' emerged 'that those who prepared the tender had favouritism toward an SAP solution,' referring to the software provider. Perrotte was also a member of one of these advisory committees. He recalled the presence of external resources taking up more space and evaluating 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 resources again at subsequent meetings.
Montreal Gazette
29-05-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Bugs piled up months before SAAQclic launch, auditor testifies
Quebec Politics A few months before the SAAQclic platform went live, bugs were piling up, according to a former internal auditor at the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), who predicted a launch similar to the 'Grands feux Loto-Québec' (Loto-Québec fireworks). Former auditor and IT specialist Vincent Poirier began his testimony Wednesday afternoon before the Gallant Commission, which is investigating the SAAQ's failures in its digital transformation. Poirier reported on the testing period that preceded the SAAQclic rollout in February 2023. During the summer and fall of 2022, more than 100 'critical' anomalies were detected daily. Development teams were resolving approximately 30 to 40 of these issues per day. Nevertheless, bugs were piling up, Poirier told Commissioner Denis Gallant. 'You have to understand that a lot of them were fixed and a lot of them were activated. The pool of unfixed anomalies, as I recall, was at least 1,200,' meaning 'unwanted behaviours that are detrimental to services,' Poirier explained. Despite persistent difficulties, the green light was given to launch 'production,' thus ending the testing period, said the man who is now a software architect at the Ministry of Public Security. When his boss in internal auditing asked him during this same period how the platform's deployment was shaping up, Poirier said he gave him this image: 'We're going to see the Great Loto-Québec Fireworks. It's going to explode everywhere.' 'All the elements led me to believe it wouldn't work. I couldn't say how bad it was,' said Poirier, who worked for a few months in the CASA project office, which includes SAAQclic, before joining the internal audit team from 2021 to 2024. The failed rollout of SAAQclic caused huge queues outside SAAQ branches. The government corporation's technological modernization project could cost at least $1.1 billion by 2027, $500 million more than expected, according to the auditor-general. In the field in the fall of 2022, Poirier recalled encountering IT workers who were 'exhausted' or even 'in tears' at the scale of the problems. Poirier's testimony is scheduled to continue Thursday morning. 'History proves us right' Earlier Wednesday, Poirier's former boss concluded his testimony before the commission. Daniel Pelletier, former director of internal audit at the SAAQ, proposed some possible solutions to improve the governance of the Crown corporation. One of his recommendations aims to reduce the many responsibilities under the Vice-President of Information Technology. At the time he held this position, Karl Malenfant was responsible for the CASA/SAAQclic IT project. He was also responsible for human resources, as well as material and real estate resources, following a reorganization in 2020. 'That's a lot of responsibilities in the hands of one person,' Pelletier said. Many of the tasks grouped under these roles are 'incompatible,' Pelletier emphasized. He said the responsibility of a major projects office, such as the one for the development of the SAAQclic platform, 'should be somewhat removed' from the VP of IT, and 'add a touch of independence.' The retired accountant also submitted a proposal about appointing members to the board of directors. Pelletier how some directors wouldn't listen to and were hostile toward internal auditors during the CASA project. 'The auditors, we were their eyes and ears on the field,' he said. 'As we speak, history is proving us right. To put it in baseball terms, we have a batting average of 1,000, which is no small feat. Why didn't the directors listen more? Why did we always have to fight to make our voices heard?' In previous testimony this week, Pelletier testified that, among other things, his audit team had raised several red flags with the board of directors regarding potential shortcomings and cost overruns before the launch of SAAQclic. Pelletier would like a 'much stricter' director appointment process, not one based solely on references. He also called for greater independence of the internal audit department from the SAAQ CEO. Pelletier suggested that the head of internal auditors report to the legal department rather than to senior management at the administrative level.
CTV News
28-05-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
Opposition parties in National Assembly outraged by SAAQ idea
The Official Opposition in Quebec City is outraged that the Quebec auto insurance board (SAAQ) has considered dipping into the victims' compensation fund to pay off its deficits. This revelation was made on Tuesday by the SAAQ's former director of internal audit, Daniel Pelletier, when he testified before the Gallant commission investigating the failings of SAAQclic. On Wednesday, Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji tabled a motion in the Salon Rouge, pointing out that the fund intended for road accident victims should not be used 'pay off deficits resulting from the poor management of IT projects.' The motion was passed unanimously. Earlier, at a news scrum, Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said that 'taking money away from road accident victims to pay for SAAQclic' was out of the question. 'How the money in this fund is used is prescribed by legislation. So we can't do whatever we want with that money,' she explained. 'The government can use the surpluses to reduce the cost of driving licences or to finance road safety activities.' In a news release distributed to journalists on Wednesday morning, the SAAQ confirmed that it was analyzing a scenario in which it would redirect sums to road safety. This 'review of the allocation of road safety prevention activities' would have 'no connection' with SAAQclic, and 'the fund (...) cannot be used to make up the SAAQ's deficit,' the government corporation acknowledged. Moreover, additional investment in road safety would not compromise the fund's 'sound financial health,' and therefore would not affect its 'ability to compensate road accident victims,' it added. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 28, 2025.
CTV News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
SAAQclic: ex-IT boss ‘bulls-itted' senior management
Judge Denis Gallant of the Commission d'enquête sur la gestion de la modernisation des systèmes informatiques de la Société de l'assurance automobile (SAAQ) awaits the start of the public inquiry into the failure of the SAAQclic platform in Montreal on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press) Senior management at the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) was 'bullshitted' by its IT boss as he defended an extra $222 million for the deployment of the SAAQclic platform, according to a former internal auditor. The former director of the SAAQ's internal audit department, Daniel Pelletier, continued his testimony on Tuesday before the Gallant commission, which is investigating the failures of the provincial Crown corporation. Pelletier revealed that the office of then Transport Minister François Bonnardel was informed in June 2022 of future cost overruns of $222 million. Newly appointed CEO of the SAAQ, Denis Marsolais, called a meeting with a representative of the minister's office to announce the extra cost, which represented 50 per cent of the cost of the initial contract with suppliers. The SAAQ's vice-president of information technology at the time, Karl Malenfant, was also present. According to Pelletier, the meeting did not go well. 'Things got out of hand in the minister's office,' he said. Pelletier said that he had warned Marsolais that presenting such an extra would not go down well in the minister's office and that 'it was going to be hot,' since the latter believes that the contract with the consortium is capped at $458 million, as reported to him by SAAQ senior management, Pelletier asserts. Pelletier questioned the justifications put forward by Malenfant, who is in charge of the SAAQclic project, to defend the additional expenses to the contract. In his view, the suggested additions did not actually exist. Pelletier recounted what he had said to Marsolais following his meeting with the minister's office: 'Denis, you're being bullshitted' by Karl Malenfant. 'I said it to him like that. A sort of cry from the heart," Pelletier told Commissioner Denis Gallant. Marsolais lost his job in April 2023 in the wake of the failed rollout of SAAQclic, which had caused huge lineups outside branches. The SAAQ's technological modernization project could cost a minimum of more than $1.1 billion by 2027, or $500 million more than expected, according to the Auditor General. A modified final bid The final offer from the firms responsible for developing the SAAQclic platform was already raising concerns a few weeks before it was signed. The selection committee for the call for tenders suggested revising or clarifying certain points in the contract before it was signed with the LGS-IBM-SAP alliance in March 2017. Among the concerns was the number of hours for technology integration, which had been reduced by 730,000 compared with the initial bid. Three years later, the consortium calculated that the project would ultimately require 2 million hours rather than 877,000. 'Somewhere in 2020, we were in the process of discussing the possibility of handing over nearly a million more,' recalled Pelletier. In 2017, Pelletier's team had not been informed of the changes made. However, while monitoring the tendering process, the former director remembers that some members of the selection committee were 'surprised' when they discovered the content of the second bid. The consultants' 'very high' hourly rate 'for the additional work reserve' was also a point to be checked against the initial proposal. It rose from $89 to $256. 'For the same work, the competitor proposed an hourly rate of $151,' the selection committee said. The committee also pointed out that the implementation of services for the delivery of permits and registrations on the platform would be done 'without simulation.' 'This implied that there would be no prior simulations or tests. We now understand that it would certainly have been useful,' Pelletier told Commissioner Gallant. Pelletier is due to be cross-examined on Wednesday morning. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 27, 2025. By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture, The Canadian Press
