SAAQclic fiasco: ex-CEO Denis Marsolais denies having been ‘naive’

“Everything was already tied up” when Denis Marsolais arrived as president and CEO of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) in January 2022.

The train was running “full steam ahead”, he testified on Wednesday to the Gallant commission charged with shedding light on the problems associated with the modernization of SAAQ’s computer systems.

As soon as he arrived, he was told about the $458 million contract with the LGS-SAP alliance, and that its renegotiation in 2020 would require the SAAQ to add sums in 2022.

Marsolais is not aware of the contract, nor of the subsequent 2020 transaction. He is satisfied with the explanations he has been given, and finds the whole thing “logical”.

The new CEO has particular confidence in his Vice-President of Information Technologies, Karl Malenfant, a “highly intelligent” man who “knows his file well” and is perfectly “structured”.

In front of the commission, Marsolais denied having been naive: “It wasn’t my naiveté that got me into this, on the contrary”, he declared, assuring that he had been “alert” throughout his reign.

The SAAQ’s failed digital turnaround in February 2023 led to long queues in front of branches. It is expected to cost at least $1.1 billion, according to calculations by the Auditor General of Quebec.

Marsolais was dismissed in the spring of 2023 following the debacle. He is now President of the Office de la protection du consommateur.

In early testimony on Wednesday, he confided that he had reluctantly accepted the position of CEO of the SAAQ. I had no interest,” he admitted candidly. I wasn’t really excited by the offer.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews