Quebec government reassigns head of SAAQ amid scandal

Eric Ducharme was brought in to get the SAAQ organized after the SAAQCLIC debacle but was canned Thursday.

The Quebec government has reassigned the president and CEO of the province’s auto insurance board.

Eric Ducharme’s dismissal from the top job was confirmed by a government source who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Ducharme was appointed to the position in April 2023 to restore order at the auto board, which has been in crisis since the disastrous rollout of its new online platform.

READ MORE: Quebec’s anti-corruption police open investigation into SAAQclic fiasco

He is being dismissed in the middle of a public inquiry announced last spring after Quebec’s auditor general revealed cost overruns of at least $500 million in the creation of the platform.

Quebec’s anticorruption squad conducted a search of the auto board’s head office in June.

Premier Francois Legault has refused to publicly reiterate his confidence in Ducharme in recent months, but had suggested he would wait for the report from the public inquiry before taking any action.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 9, 2025.