Que. minister Geneviève Guilbault could testify next week before the Gallant Commission

Quebec Transport Minister Genevieve Guilbault is expected to testify before the Gallant Commision into the SAAQclic fiasco. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Quebec Transportation Minister Geneviève Guilbault could testify next week before the Gallant Commission, which is investigating the failed digital transition of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).

The information was confirmed on Wednesday by a government source not authorized to speak publicly.

The commission of inquiry into the management of the SAAQ’s IT modernization, including the SAAQclic platform, will resume its public hearings next Monday after a two-month summer break.

The hearings will be held in Montreal over the next three weeks.

They will have a political flavour, as former ministers, current ministers, and cabinet staff will be called to testify.

In addition to Guilbault, her predecessor, François Bonnardel, now Minister of Public Security, is expected to be heard during this period.

Those who held the transport portfolio under Philippe Couillard’s Liberal government, Laurent Lessard and André Fortin, are also expected to appear.

In the spring, former PQ and Liberal ministers Sylvain Gaudreault and Robert Poëti testified before the commission chaired by Judge Denis Gallant.

The commission is scheduled to submit its report by Dec. 15 at the latest.

The public hearings are scheduled to continue until early October.

Several key players still need to be questioned in connection with what has been dubbed the SAAQclic fiasco. These include the former CEOs of the state-owned corporation, Nathalie Tremblay and Éric Ducharme, who were dismissed by the Legault government at the beginning of the summer.

Former vice president of information technology Karl Malenfant, one of those responsible for rolling out the SAAQclic platform, has not yet testified publicly, although he met with the commission behind closed doors last week.

It should be noted that the SAAQ’s failed digital transition is expected to cost taxpayers at least $1.1 billion, or $500 million more than anticipated, according to calculations by the Auditor General of Quebec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 13, 2025.