The Gallant Commission
Commission d'enquête sur la gestion de la modernisation des systèmes informatiques de la Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (Commission of Inquiry into the Management of the Modernization of the Information Systems of the SAAQ)
- Announced: March 2025
- Commissioner Appointed: March 24, 2025
- Commissioner: The Honourable Denis Gallant, Quebec municipal judge
The Commission was established to investigate:
- The failures of the CASA digital transformation program
- The SAAQclic platform implementation
- Cost overruns of at least $500 million
- Management decisions and accountability
- Contract management practices
- Information flow to decision-makers and elected officials
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 24, 2025 | Judge Denis Gallant appointed as Commissioner |
| April 24, 2025 | Opening statement by the Commissioner |
| April 28 - May 1, 2025 | First week of public hearings |
| June 2025 | Commission extended; new deadline set for December 15, 2025 |
| September 2, 2025 | Premier François Legault testifies |
| September 15, 2025 | Former CEO Nathalie Tremblay testifies |
| October 24, 2025 | Public hearings conclude |
| November 2025 | Report deadline extended to February 13, 2026 |
| February 13, 2026 | Final deadline for report submission |
| February 16, 2026 | 826-page final report released in Quebec City |
Pages of documents
Witnesses heard
Commission cost
| Metric | Number |
|---|---|
| Days of hearings | 75 |
| Witnesses heard | 131 |
| Emails analyzed | 400,000 |
| Documents reviewed | 300,000 |
| Report pages | 826 |
| Total cost | $7,016,527 |
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Personnel (salaries) | $4,785,709 |
| Online broadcasting | $1,198,705 |
| Other expenses | $1,032,113 |
Government Officials
François Legault - Premier of Quebec, Geneviève Guilbault - Transport Minister, François Bonnardel - Former Transport Minister, Éric Caire - Former Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Technology, Sonia LeBel - President of the Treasury Board, Christian Dubé - Minister
SAAQ Executives
Nathalie Tremblay - Former President and CEO, Éric Ducharme - Former President and CEO, Karl Malenfant - Former VP of Information Technology, Three former SAAQ CEOs in total
Other Notable Witnesses
Former Legault chief of staff (testified about being warned of cost overruns in 2020), SAAQ contract management directors, LGS/IBM representatives, SAP representatives, Consulting firm representatives who issued warnings
Cost Manipulation
- Performance indicators were deliberately changed from "red" to "green"
- $222 million overrun was split into smaller amounts to avoid disclosure thresholds
- True costs hidden from the board of directors and elected officials
Contract Issues
- CGI offered to do the project for 29% less ($135 million cheaper)
- CGI's bid was never opened — eliminated before price evaluation
- SAP helped define project requirements before bidding (conflict of interest)
- Some selection committee members allegedly showed bias toward SAP
Technical Failures
- 20% of integration tests were not completed before launch
- Multiple consulting firms warned of risks, but warnings were ignored
- IBM warned the project was "too big, too much, too fast" in 2019
- Developers unfamiliar with SAAQ's operations were brought in from abroad
Management Failures
- Information hidden from decision-makers
- Board of directors misled about project status
- No accountability for cost overruns
- Continued dependency on failing contractors
At the conclusion of hearings, Commissioner Denis Gallant stated:
He described the commission as "one of the fastest public inquiries in recent Quebec history" given the volume of evidence analyzed.
The Gallant Commission has:
- Exposed systemic failures in government IT project management
- Revealed potential misconduct by senior officials
- Prompted UPAC criminal investigation
- Created political pressure ahead of the 2026 provincial election
- Led to calls for reform in public contract oversight
The 826-page final report was released on February 16, 2026 in Quebec City.
Key findings of the report:
- SAAQ lied to parliamentarians, ministers, and their offices for nearly 10 years about project costs and progress, through "hypocritically reassuring" parliamentary updates
- Karl Malenfant particularly blamed — his "strong personality" sidelined internal controls, which were "discredited" or "undermined"
- SAAQ Board of Directors received sufficient information at critical moments but failed to act
- Premier Legault and Minister Guilbault largely cleared — informed by CEO Éric Ducharme in spring 2023, but without historical context
- Former Minister Bonnardel "rather well" exonerated — only learned the full project cost ($682M) in winter 2021
- The program was "too large, too ambitious, developed too rapidly"
- Single-vendor dependency (LGS/SAP "Alliance" consortium) created cost overrun vulnerability
- First amendment intentionally set at $45.7M "to avoid publication"
- Program benefits were "melting like snow in the sun"
For information on criminal investigations, see Investigations