SAAQclic fiasco: Malenfant caught in a lie at Gallant commission

Former Societe dÕAssurance automobile du Quebec (SAAQ) executive Karl Malenfant is photographed from a television screen while testifying at the Gallant Commission in Quebec City, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The architect of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec’s digital overhaul, Karl Malenfant, was caught in a lie at the Gallant commission Friday.

Testifying under oath on the third day of his appearance, Malenfant said he never had access to bids submitted by IT firms.

But evidence shows he obtained part of Deloitte’s bid in 2016 and sent it to his personal email.

That document was supposed to remain “in a locked bunker,” prosecutor Alexandre Thériault-Marois pointed out. Confronted with the revelation, Malenfant said he felt “dizzy” and “destabilized.”

Before ordering a break, commissioner Denis Gallant reminded the witness about section 11 of the Act respecting public inquiry commissions, which addresses perjury.

“I expect a witness, under oath, to tell the truth,” Gallant said after the pause.

A ‘billionaire’ SAAQ

According to Thériault-Marois, Malenfant paid little attention to costs during the digital shift.

In a transcript of an exchange with Caroline Lortie of the Autorité des marchés publics, Malenfant is quoted as saying it wasn’t “a question of price,” since the SAAQ is “billionaire.”

“We have $15 billion at the Caisse de dépôt. We give $2 billion a year back to citizens,” he said.

On Friday, Thériault-Marois reminded him the SAAQ is in fact running an operating deficit, and that the funds held in trust belong to road accident victims.

“My priority is the technological sustainability of the SAAQ,” Malenfant replied, adding the agency is not “the local bargain store.”

Fed up with internal audit

An email Malenfant sent to consultant Madeleine Chagnon on Feb. 26, 2016, also revealed his frustration with the SAAQ’s internal audit.

“They’re making us burn gas for nothing. Don’t bother with them. We’re all fed up, and when I say all, it’s ALL,” he wrote.

The Gallant commission is investigating the botched SAAQ digital shift. Quebec’s auditor general estimates the project will cost $1.1 billion by 2027, $500 million more than planned.