SAAQclic: political advisor criticized for not keeping close enough tabs on the SAAQ

Commissioner Denis Gallant criticized a political adviser to former Transport Minister François Bonnardel for relying solely on “fragmentary information” from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) regarding its IT project, which nevertheless presented certain challenges.

Alain Généreux was cross-examined Wednesday morning at the commission of inquiry into the SAAQclic fiasco. He was the political adviser responsible for SAAQ issues in Minister Bonnardel’s office from 2019 to 2022.

During his testimony, Généreux said he was reassured by the SAAQ’s explanations about the progress of its digital transformation, despite signals about costs, numerous anomalies to be corrected and the postponement of features.

Commissioner Gallant expressed his incomprehension at the political adviser’s sentiment.

“Your job is to get answers. Then, I get the impression that, at the end of the day, what emerges is that you are satisfied with piecemeal information, when there are (…) real signals,” he said.

Généreux maintained that the information provided by the SAAQ was valid at the time.

“For us, the project is on track for October 2022, even though there are resource issues and even though there will be a 2.5 delivery because we will be delivering certain features later,” said the man, who still works with Bonnardel, now minister of public security.

Généreux mentioned that information was slow to reach the cabinet.

In his recommendations, he stated that he would have liked to know the findings of the SAAQ’s internal auditors who had raised red flags in the years before the launch of the SAAQclic platform.

Several people came forward to testify at the beginning of the commission’s public hearings.

“What I heard shocked me, because this is the kind of information that allows us to do judo and challenge decisions, and then challenge the machine on certain issues,” said Généreux.

The minister’s office had access to summaries of Ernst & Young’s audit reviews of the project. Some of those presented to the commission also raised concerns.

Commissioner Gallant also expressed “a serious problem” with the fact that the actual costs of the IT project known as CASA (Carrefour des services d’affaires) had been deliberately concealed from other elected officials in March 2021.

Minister Bonnardel’s office had a document in its possession that mentioned a total bill of $682 million. The SAAQ had asked that it not be forwarded to the members of the National Assembly’s public administration committee. Instead, they were given access to a document that mentioned a cost of $458 million.

As he had done the day before, Généreux explained on Wednesday that the agreement between the SAAQ and the Treasury Board only provided for accountability for the $458-million contract with the consortium, not for the costs incurred internally by the corporation.

He also argued that the SAAQ’s annual management report contained details on the organization’s IT budget, although it did not detail the costs associated with CASA.

Généreux acknowledged that the state-owned corporation could have been more transparent.

Véronik Aubry, chief of staff to the minister of transportation from 2018 to 2021, began her testimony late Wednesday morning.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews