Latest news with #Sociétédel'assuranceautomobileduQuébec
Montreal Gazette
5 days 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.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla registrations down 90 per cent in Quebec in 1st quarter of 2025
Quebec EV buyers' relationship with Tesla is showing signs of souring as sales in the province plummeted in the first quarter of 2025. Only 524 Teslas were registered in Quebec between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to Quebec's auto insurance board, the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec. That's a 90 per cent drop from the previous quarter when 5,097 of the electric automaker's cars were registered in the province, as first reported by Le Devoir. The data, also obtained by CBC News, shows that Tesla registrations in Quebec — Canada's largest EV market, including for Tesla — rose 30 per cent from 2023 to 2024 before nosediving in early 2025. And though CEO Elon Musk and his involvement in the Trump administration has "absolutely" had an impact on sales, says Daniel Breton, president of Electric Mobility Canada, the reasons go beyond a general dislike of the EV company's founder, with tariffs and rebate cutbacks likely contributing to the decline. The federal EV rebate program Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) ended March 31, and Quebec's program was paused between Feb. 1 and April 1. Quebec-based EV buyers used to be able to stack the rebates, benefitting from as much as $12,000 off the cost of a new vehicle. "Some dealers told me that … basically the message was, well, wait until April," said Breton, whose group is focused on advocacy for electric transportation. "Because the [provincial] rebate was about to come back." Breton believes more fulsome data for the same time period will show that Tesla isn't the only EV maker to take a hit in Quebec's market. According to preliminary S&P Global data, electric vehicle registrations in Quebec declined 65 per cent. Also hurting sales could be the 25 per cent tariff on U.S.-made EVs, including Tesla, Rivian and Lucid cars, imposed by the federal government in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's levies. "Now that the [Quebec] rebate is back, we'll see what happens with the sales of EVs in general and Tesla in particular," said Breton, who has owned a Model 3 Tesla for four years. "I'm really disappointed in what Elon Musk has been doing for the past year or two. So I hope that they find a way to resolve this," he said. "To me, Elon Musk is really hurting the brand." The combined effect of Musk's politics and tariffs have been felt outside of Quebec, with Tesla sales dropping 49 per cent year-over-year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. WATCH | Tesla and Canadian politics: In addition to working for the Trump administration, which has repeatedly threatened Canadian sovereignty and imposed damaging tariffs that have upended financial markets, Musk has made dismissive comments about Canada, including saying on X — the social media platform he owns — that it is "not a real country." He has also faced significant criticism for amplifying and endorsing racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories on X and made a gesture at Trump's inauguration many interpreted as a Nazi salute. And Tesla is also under investigation in Canada after the company claimed to have sold 8,653 vehicles in the last three days of the federal rebate program, which would have amounted to $43 million in rebate claims. That questionable number raised suspicions, leading to the probe by the federal government. Despite some of the current concerns, Anne Picard, a Tesla Model Y owner from Dorval, Que., has owned two Teslas for eight years — and says she wouldn't buy anything else. "I don't have enough trust in [other companies] to give the same level of reliability," she said. She said anyone who can should buy an electric vehicle and believes EV consumers should separate their political convictions from their consumer decisions. "The electric vehicle wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for Elon Musk," said Picard, who works in IT project management, after parking her Tesla at Montreal's Jean Talon Market. Philippe Bergeron Bélanger, who was charging his electric Audi Q4 in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood Thursday, said he, too, tries to "leave politics out of my choices," but he won't be replacing his car with a Tesla when its lease is up in a year and a half. Chinese EVs once provided an affordable alternative, Bergeron Bélanger noted, but not since Canada slapped more than 100 per cent tariffs on those cars. "I don't feel like having an awkward debate at family dinners or with friends. Otherwise, [Tesla] probably would have been in my top three," said Bergeron Bélanger, who is a managing partner at an investment firm and says he doesn't agree with Musk's actions but is making the choice more based on how polarizing owning the car itself has become. Picard, on the other hand, believes that will blow over soon — if it hasn't already. "C'est un feu de paille," she said, using a French expression that translates to "straw fire" and is the equivalent of "a flash in the pan." Breton says there's no way to know right now whether the Musk backlash will have lasting effects, saying the next quarter will start to paint a fuller picture.
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.
Montreal Gazette
22-05-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
External employees quadrupled their hourly rate to $350, SAAQ commission hears
The hourly rate charged by external employees working on the IT modernization of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec increased significantly, from $82 to $350 per hour, during the first year of the project. This was revealed by documents presented Thursday morning to the Gallant Commission, which is investigating the failures of the government corporation's digital transformation, including the SAAQclic platform. A former SAAQ internal auditor, Martin Després, testified to commissioner Denis Gallant that he noticed a change in the hourly rate of external employees as early as 2018, the year after the contract was awarded. These workers hired by suppliers had the lowest rate stipulated in the contract, $82 per hour, which is associated with the technology integration job profile. They saw their hourly rate climb to one of the highest levels, $350 per hour, linked to 'leading-edge expertise.' Such a change in salary scale was observed in the same billing period, noted Després, who worked for the SAAQ from 2016 to 2023. Després explained that he had not noticed any 'significant difference' in their tasks that could explain an increase in the hourly rate. Initially, the suppliers' quotes anticipated the use of nearly 10,800 hours for 'advanced expertise' at $350 per hour over five years. About three years after the contract began, in February 2020, the project had consumed nearly 35,000 hours for this type of profile, according to a cost analysis by Després. The SAAQ's technological modernization project could cost at least $1.1 billion by 2027, or $500 million more than expected, according to the auditor general.
Montreal Gazette
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Montreal Gazette
SAAQ outlets shut down Wednesday as online glitches continue
The online crash that blacked out the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec Tuesday afternoon remains unresolved Wednesday. The result? Service centres are closed to the public except for scheduled practical driving exams. The disruption is linked to a bank of servers used to maintain several support and mission services, according to the SAAQ. Th problems began at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Apart the from shutdown of the service centres, the SAAQclic platform, while 'functional' cannot be accessed. Practical driving exams are being carried out Wednesday, but those with appointments for other services 'will be contacted to arrange new appointments in the days to come.' The SAAQ said its teams are working with Microsoft to resolve the problem 'as quickly as possible,' adding that clients' personal information has not been compromised.
