“At first glance,” the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) has committed a contempt of Parliament, National Assembly President Nathalie Roy ruled Wednesday.
In making her ruling, Roy cited the Auditor General (AG), who found that the SAAQ had provided incomplete information to the members of the Committee on Public Administration (CAP) regarding its digital transition.
The failed rollout of SAAQclic led to long wait lines in front of branches in 2023 and cost $500 million more than expected, for a total that will exceed $1.1 billion in 2025, the AG estimated.
“The facts brought to my attention are serious enough to constitute a prima facie contempt of Parliament,” Roy said. Not only did the SAAQ pass on false information to the CAP, “but it appears to me that this was done intentionally.”
“The status reports that the SAAQ sent to the commission did not mention the project’s major problems. While certain indicators ... were green in the documents intended for the commission, they were yellow or red in those intended for the board.”
Applauding the President’s decision, the Official Opposition House Leader, Monsef Derraji, immediately confirmed his intention to refer the matter to the Commission of the National Assembly (CAN).
The committee will be able to investigate to determine whether there has indeed been a contempt of Parliament, in which case it will have to identify those responsible and possibly impose sanctions.
Derraji has indicated that he would like to summon a number of current and former SAAQ executives, including Nathalie Tremblay, Denis Marsolais, Éric Ducharme, Karl Malenfant and Caroline Foldes-Busque, as well as the former Chairman of the Board, Konrad Sioui.
“We cannot be given incorrect information, it’s very serious, because in the end we lost $500 million,” he insisted at a press briefing on Wednesday. “This must not be repeated.”
Québec solidaire (QS) and the Parti québécois support Derraji’s approach, but it remains to be seen whether the Legault government will agree, next Tuesday, to refer the matter to the CAN for a formal investigation.
The National Assembly is experiencing an unprecedented situation: an investigation is already underway at the CAN into Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault’s failure to submit an annual SAAQ report by the prescribed deadline.
The last investigation of this kind, concerning former Groulx MNA Claude Surprenant, dates back to 2018. Prior to that, the CAN had investigated former Portneuf MNA Michel Pagé in 1987.
In this case, Roy was keen to emphasize that it was “third parties,” not elected representatives, who were targeted. The government’s House Leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette, pointed out during the arguments that the situation was all the more delicate.
The CAQ government, which claims to have been “deceived” in this affair, has since appointed people who were involved in SAAQclic to other important positions in the government," said Derraji.
“The inquiry (...) will reveal more about the role of public servants in this fiasco. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the most important thing is ministerial responsibility,” said Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, interim co-spokesperson for Québec Solidaire.
In addition to launching a public inquiry, the government has referred the matter to the Autorité des marchés publics, the Ministry of Transport and the Unité permanente anticorruption.
Cybersecurity and Digital Minister Éric Caire resigned from his post on Feb. 27 in the wake of the AG’s devastating report.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 2, 2025.
