SAAQclic scandal: former Legault aide warned of higher costs in 2024

Commissioner Denis Gallant, of the Commission of Inquiry into the Management of the Modernization of the Information Systems of the Société de l'assurance automobile (SAAQ), awaits the start of the public inquiry into the failures of the SAAQclic platform, under the watchful eye of Chief Prosecutor Simon Tremblay, in Montreal, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

Former secretary general Dominique Savoie, who worked directly under Premier François Legault, was informed in the winter of 2024 by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) of new cost overruns to come for the SAAQclic platform.

Former SAAQ CEO Éric Ducharme completed his testimony on Friday afternoon before the Gallant Commission.

In March 2024, he met with Savoie, who at the time was Legault’s right-hand person at the Ministry of the Executive Council. Ducharme said he told her that the Crown corporation was about to exhaust—and faster than expected—the remaining money in the contract with the consortium, which at the time amounted to $573 million.

“This is not good news. We have a system that needs to work. It takes resources, it takes licenses. We still have a system that has problems in 2024,” Ducharme explained to the commission.

This new $39.1 million “addendum” was added to the two others signed in the previous two years.

In 2024, the SAAQ will also conclude three other calls for tenders to ensure the operation and development of the IT project known as CASA. The goal behind this is to “get out” of the framework contract with the consortium formed by LGS and SAP, said Ducharme.

To his surprise, LGS will essentially win these new contracts.

Adding up the initial cost of the contract, the extras, and the latest calls for tenders, the bill for the consortium rose to $797 million, according to the commission’s attorney, Mélanie Tremblay.

However, this figure is “over a longer period” than the initial contract, Ducharme pointed out. Of this amount, $75 million “could be used for CASA” and shared among several firms as needed, he added.

Ducharme also stated that he had presented these figures to the chief of staff of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault.

It should be noted that the SAAQ’s digital shift, which includes the SAAQclic platform, is expected to cost at least $1.1 billion, according to the Auditor General of Quebec.

Ducharme also defended himself against accusations that he had little interest in internal auditing, as claimed by some witnesses before the commission.

A former SAAQ auditor, Marie-Line Lalonde, said last June that she felt she had been “spat on” during a meeting in January 2024, where Mr. Ducharme stood idly by, seemingly saying, “I don’t want your work.”

The former CEO said he was surprised to have left such an impression when “we were in the process of changing things.”

“I’m actually hurt by this ... It was far from my intention to have that kind of meeting with these people, quite the contrary. I took several actions that may not have been apparent,” he said, arguing that he considers the work of internal auditors to be important.

Ducharme declined to comment on Guilbault’s email to Legault in December 2024, which was presented to the commission last week. The minister attacked Ducharme and called for changes at the head of the SAAQ.

Ducharme was dismissed by the government last July. “What I was told was that the pressure was too strong and that it was my turn to step down,” he said.

Testimony from Dubé and LeBel

On Friday morning, Ministers Christian Dubé and Sonia LeBel testified before the public inquiry commission.

Dubé, who was president of the Treasury Board from 2018 to 2020, gave a brief testimony before the Gallant Commission in Montreal. He was present at the inception of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ)’s IT modernization project called CASA.

According to him, when he took office, the project was not on the government’s radar. The first time he heard about “such significant cost overruns” was when the Quebec Auditor General’s (VGQ) report was tabled last February, said Dubé, now Minister of Health.

His successor, LeBel, was questioned in particular about the workforce deployed by the SAAQ for its digital transformation. The Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for monitoring staffing levels at organizations such as the SAAQ.

LeBel said she learned around June 2021 that the SAAQ was “overconsuming” staff, i.e., exceeding its authorized targets. The Secretariat then asked the organization for a reduction plan.

After reviewing the documents, commission attorney Vincent Ranger noted that these reduction requests were never complied with between 2020 and 2025, while staffing levels continued to rise during that period.

“They are indeed experiencing difficulties,” acknowledged the CAQ minister. “They are not the only ones in difficulty. We are coming out of a pandemic. There have been many upheavals.”

She also defended herself against accusations of being “passive” in the face of this staffing surplus.

“The SCT (Secretariat of the Treasury Board) is not at all a spectator or overwhelmed or passive. The SCT has the tools that the law gives it,” the elected official argued.

LeBel indicated that she did not have frequent meetings with her colleague Éric Caire when he was the Minister for Government Digital Transformation. This portfolio was part of the Treasury Board before the creation of the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital Technology in 2022.

LeBel explained that Caire had full autonomy as deputy minister. However, she assured that her colleague was required to inform her in the event of a critical issue.

“I still let him judge that because I wasn’t breathing down his neck, so to speak. But naturally, if he knew there was something he thought was appropriate and relevant to talk to me about, he had to do so,” LeBel said.

The Gallant Commission is scheduled to hear from Premier François Legault on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 29, 2025.

By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture, The Canadian Press