LIVE | SAAQclic fiasco: Geneviève Guilbault's cabinet approved the explosion in contract costs in 2023

The office of Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault was informed of the SAAQclic project's cost overruns nearly two years before the filing of the damning report by the Auditor General of Quebec. The former chief of staff even approved adding an extra $69 million to the contract.

• Also read: Gallant Commission: Ministers Geneviève Guilbault and François Bonnardel sacrificed to help François Legault “save his skin”?

• Also read: SAAQclic fiasco: François Bonnardel pleads ignorance

• Also read: Testimony of François Bonnardel: here is what our analysts think

In June 2023, the Minister received an email containing a file detailing the "revised budget" for the CASA/SAAQclic project. The amount at that time was $716.4 million. According to other documents filed with the Gallant Commission, the Minister was also informed of amendments totaling $132 million, which began to be disbursed in 2022 to complete the project.

The political advisor in charge of the file, Dave Gravel, stated under oath that he did not recall these documents, nor the meetings concerning the contractual strategy for the CASA/SAAQclic project. He was apparently unaware of the email attachments mentioning this strategy and the amendments worth several hundred million dollars.

According to him, the project's budget was still $458 million. He claims to have discovered the extent of the overruns in the Auditor General's report, published in February 2025.

"No one explained the contract strategy to me," Gravel said. "The information was buried in emails."

In a particularly tense testimony, the former chief of staff at the time, Geneviève Cantin, admitted to having approved one of the $69 million amendments in the summer of 2023.

According to an email from CEO Éric Ducharme, this addition followed a discussion with Minister Geneviève Guilbault.

The chief of staff defended herself by stating that, in her opinion, this was not a cost increase. She also told prosecutor Vincent Ranger that she was not aware of the project's initial budget and that the addition of amendments was, in her opinion, already part of the contractual strategy.

^Ms. Cantin assured that the Secretary General of the government at the time, Dominique Savoie, was informed of this strategy and that the extras were authorized by the Treasury Board.

"The PM thinks $500 million is huge"

At the heart of the SAAQclic crisis, the office of former minister Éric Caire allegedly transmitted erroneous information to the Prime Minister's Office, indicating that the project's budget was $458 million. However, the minister responsible for digital affairs had been informed a few months earlier that costs had climbed to $682 million.

Following the chaotic deployment of SAAQclic, Prime Minister François Legault sought to justify an investment of nearly $500 million in the digital transformation of the SAAQ.

"The PM thinks $500 million is huge. How do you justify it?" wrote Ewan Sauves, the Prime Minister's communications director.

In March 2023, following a post by businessman Mitch Garber on the social network X, the Prime Minister requested an explanation of the costs of the CASA/SAAQclic project. A discussion ensued between the offices of Geneviève Guilbault and Éric Caire.

Minister Caire's communications director then responded that the project's budget was $458 million, describing it as comparable to other digital transformation projects.

Low transition

After the 2022 election, Minister Geneviève Guilbault's office received a simple three-line summary of the CASA/SAAQclic project:

"The government's most important IT system is nearing implementation (January 2023). Six years of work have been invested in this project, which will ultimately enable a better 24/7 online service offering. Rigorous monitoring has been our most important challenge, both in terms of budget and delivery. All the signals are green at the moment," said the advisor to former Transport Minister François Bonnardel.

No further information was provided. There was no appeal or file transfer.

Even during crisis management, after the catastrophic deployment of the project, no communication took place with the former managers of the file in the minister's office.

Commissioner Denis Gallant expressed his incomprehension at the lack of transmission of this information.

"I'm trying to recommend that this never happens again," Commissioner Gallant said.

Testimony expected

The current Minister of Transport will answer questions regarding her involvement in the SAAQclic project.

His testimony is scheduled to take place in the afternoon.

In the coming hours, the woman who has held the position of Minister of Transport since 2022 will have to present her version of events to Commissioner Denis Gallant.

On Thursday, his predecessor, François Bonnardel, pleaded ignorance, claiming that the SAAQ had concealed the true picture of the SAAQclic fiasco from him.

The Minister of Transport from 2018 to 2022 admitted that he still had some concerns about the explosion in costs and the postponement of the project.

According to his testimony, two CEOs of the state-owned company allegedly hid significant increases in the project's operating costs from him, notably by submitting a false document to his office.

"My bullshit index is quite high. But I realize today that some people have shamefully managed to convey inadequate information, which has prevented us from seeing the true picture of the situation," said Minister François Bonnardel.

Follow the public hearings live on LCN from 8 a.m.