SAAQclic: Public Procurement Authority orders SAAQ to suspend contracts

Quebec’s Public Procurement Authority has ordered the provincial auto insurance board to suspend for 30 days all contracts related to the SAAQclic project.

Quebec’s Public Procurement Authority (AMP) has ordered the provincial auto insurance board (SAAQ) to suspend for 30 days all contracts related to the SAAQclic project.

Since the release of the Auditor General’s report, which revealed a cost overrun of $500 million, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec has taken “no mitigation measures” regarding public fund expenditures, the Autorité des marchés publics said in a statement on Thursday.

The parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party, Monsef Derraji, immediately called for the resignation of Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, who, in his view, has “abdicated her role.”

“What is Ms. Guilbault doing? What has she done to reassure the public and stop this hemorrhage?” he asked in an impromptu press briefing, just minutes after the AMP’s order was announced.

“At this stage, we take note of the AMP’s decision. I would remind you that since 2018, we are the government that has increased the AMP’s powers,” briefly commented Sonia LeBel, president of the Treasury Board (Conseil du trésor).

From Sherrington, where he held a press conference, Premier François Legault defended the work of SAAQ CEO Éric Ducharme, while expressing a desire to “get to the bottom of things.”

The day before, during question period, Legault had questioned the Auditor General’s calculation, which estimates that the cost of the SAAQ’s failed digital shift will exceed $1.1 billion this year.

He argued that there was “no proof of that,” adding that, like Ducharme, one should calculate separately “the cost of the program” and “the cost of maintenance.”

The Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA for the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Joël Arseneau, expressed surprise on Thursday that the premier was contesting the veracity of the information in the Auditor General’s report.

He accused the premier of trying to “reinvent reality.” “There is a dangerous slide toward what we call alternative facts,” he said.

“It’s like we’re going back to square one. Was there really a scandal with SAAQclic? Was there a fiasco? What are the numbers? Can we validate this?” So, we’re seeing a major step backward on what is based on reliable and verified data.

What we want is to know more, not deny the facts we already have in front of us. It’s quite absurd,” he added.

The Legault government has set up a public commission of inquiry to shed light on the SAAQclic case.

The commission, led by Judge Denis Gallant, is expected to submit its report no later than Sept. 30, 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 10, 2025.