Kevin Dougherty

Caire resigns as minister over SAAQClic debacle

Caire resigns over SAAQClic fiasco

Kevin Dougherty

kevindougherty@qctonline.com

Cybersecurity minister Éric Caire has stepped down in the wake of the scandal engulfing Quebec’s public auto insurance agency. The Société d’assurance auto- mobile du Québec (SAAQ), which manages the province’s no-fault car insurance and issues drivers’ licences and vehicle registrations, has been under fire since a failed transition to a new online platform two years ago caused chaos at service centres. In a report released Feb. 20, Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc found a planned $638-million update to the online system ultimately cost taxpayers over $1 billion. Opposition MNAs were outraged, calling for an investigation.

When asked if government ministers were aware of the overrun before the new SAAQclic system crashed two years ago, resulting in some Quebec motorists still without metal licence plates, Leclerc said she could not answer that. However, in an interview with Le Devoir, Karl Malenfant, then SAAQ vice-president in charge of the project, said he did inform Caire in June 2022. Caire denied Malenfant’s version of events, but ultimately resigned as minister on Feb. 27. On March 2, as this newspaper was being prepared for publication, Premier François Legault said an independent public inquiry would be launched in the coming days. “When there are failures in government, even if it is within a Crown corporation, at the end of the day we are the ones accountable to the population and we must assume this responsibility. I want us to get to the bottom of things and there are several issues that we must clarify,” the premier wrote on social media.

Caire has said he plans to stay on as MNA for the riding of La Peltrie, which includes Shannon and Sainte-Catherine de la Jacques-Cartier. Gilles Bélanger, MNA for the riding of Orford in the Eastern Townships, until recently the government’s point person on expanding access to high-speed internet, will succeed Caire as minister.

With files from Ruby Pratka, LJI reporter