Quebec asks for review of SAAQclic contract, UPAC investigation requested

Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel announced that she is asking the CEO of the Autorité des marchés publics to review the contract process surrounding the SAAQclic platform, a few days after the auditor general’s report highlighted the shortcomings of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec’s (SAAQ) digital shift. 

In a post on the social network X, broadcast Monday evening, LeBel stated that she asked “the CEO of the Autorité des marchés publics, Yves Trudel, to examine the awarding process and the execution of the contract” following the submission of the report by auditor general Guylaine Leclerc, “which highlights very worrying situations.” 

On Monday, the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, wrote to the head of the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC), Éric René, urging him to look into the “outrageous” facts contained in the report.

“I consider that the facts mentioned (…) must be given attention commensurate with their seriousness,” she wrote. “It seems that your organization is currently analyzing the report. I consider that this is essential analytical work in the circumstances.”

In her letter, Guilbault lists the findings that she considers to be “extremely disturbing”:

– Incomplete planning of digital transformation needs before signing the contract with the Alliance, with this process only being finalized 12 months later; 

– An apparent conflict of interest relating to the firm that assessed the digital transformation needs and its involvement in the Alliance that won the call for tenders for the implementation of CASA;  

– An increase in the total cost of the project of up to $1.1 billion, or 40 per cent more than initial forecasts; 

– Repeated manipulation of strategic information intended for decision-makers, concealing delays, unachieved objectives, computer anomalies, unperformed tests, etc.;  

– The transmission of incomplete and erroneous information to parliamentarians, minimizing or hiding the extent of the situation;  

– A risky strategy of splitting contracts with the aim of not alerting the government to a cost overrun of $222 million in September 2022.  

“Citizens have the right to expect sound and transparent management of public funds, a duty that the SAAQ has notoriously neglected,” insisted Minister Guilbault.

The report, filed last Thursday, indicated that the SAAQ expected to save several hundred million dollars with its digital shift. However, two years after SAAQclic went live in the winter of 2023, problems are still being reported. 

For example, the SAAQ expected to save $53 million by offering faster services at service points. The time required to provide the services would have instead increased by 20 per cent.

“The costs associated with providing services have therefore not decreased and are even higher than before,” Leclerc stressed in her report.

In the months preceding the deployment of SAAQclic, program management claimed that everything was going as planned, while “delays were piling up and quality problems were noticeable,” the auditor revealed.

The failed deployment of SAAQclic caused long queues in front of branches in 2023 and congested customer service.

– With reporting by Caroline Plante and Thomas Laberge

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews