SAAQclic fiasco: Karl Malenfant thought the SAAQ was a billionaire

Former Societe d'Assurance 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 chief architect of the digital shift at the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) considered the state-owned corporation to be a “billionaire.”

Karl Malenfant, former vice president of information technology at the SAAQ, testified Friday before the Gallant Commission for the third day in a row.

Prosecutor Alexandre Thériault-Marois presented him with the stenographic record of his April 2025 exchange with Caroline Lortie of the Autorité des marchés publics.

Malenfant stated in the exchange that the digital shift was not “a question of price,” since the SAAQ is “a billionaire.”

According to the former VP, the SAAQ has “$15 billion in the Caisse de dépôt.”

On Friday, Thériault-Marois reminded him that the SAAQ is operating at a deficit and that the billions in trust belong to road accident victims.

The Gallant Commission is responsible for investigating the SAAQ’s failed digital shift. Quebec’s auditor general estimates that it will cost $1.1 billion by 2027, which is $500 million more than expected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Sept. 19, 2025.

Caroline Plante, The Canadian Press