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Quebec’s public contract watchdog says the province’s automobile insurance board undermined the principles of fair competition in the handling of its disastrous SAAQclic project.
In a 51-page report released Tuesday, the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP) concluded the automobile insurance board, better known as the SAAQ, failed to ensure a fair bidding process and maintain transparency over public spending.
“These failures run counter to responsible management of public funds,” the AMP said in a news release.
The investigation found the agency gave a company, SAP Canada Inc., an unfair advantage by allowing the firm to help define the project’s needs before the bidding process even began — giving them inside information unavailable to rivals.
It also determined the SAAQ split parts of the project into multiple contracts, a practice the AMP says can be used to avoid stricter oversight.
In late 2022, the SAAQ needed more money for the project but knew that any increase over 10 per cent of the contract’s value would trigger a public alert on the government’s tendering system, according to the report.
To avoid this, executives sought an increase of exactly $45.7 million, which represented 9.97 per cent of the contract’s value — just enough to stay under the radar.
The report includes several recommendations to improve transparency, and the SAAQ will have to provide an update on project to the AMP every six months.
Quebec Transport Minister Jonatan Julien said he takes the report’s findings “very seriously.”
“I met with SAAQ senior management this morning to ensure that all orders and recommendations will be implemented and that the action plan will be submitted to the AMP within the prescribed time frame,” Julien said. “I have ensured that the SAAQ will co-operate fully.”
In a statement, the head of the SAAQ said it will follow the recommendations and that it has already taken steps to better oversee the management of contracts.
WATCH | What we learned at the public inquiry:
Why the ‘radioactive’ man at the centre of Quebec’s SAAQclic fiasco doesn’t think he’s to blame
While the inquiry into the bungled and massively over-budget rollout of a digital platform for the province’s auto insurance board has heard from the premier and the ministers responsible, the most important witness may have been someone few have ever heard of.
Tuesday’s report is the latest to detail the mishandling of the SAAQclic project, which was designed to make online services more accessible but instead led to long lines at service centres after its 2023 rollout.
Quebec’s auditor general has estimated the project’s total cost will eventually reach at least $1.1 billion — nearly double the original budget.
Last fall, a public inquiry into the SAAQclic debacle heard from top government officials and SAAQ executives about missteps in the project.