2023-05-02 21:43:50
The new CEO of SAAQ and the Minister of Transport have few answers to explain the fiasco of the digital transformation of the Crown corporation. An external audit report will be produced shortly and the “main conclusions” will be made public.
What would the new CEO of the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), Éric Ducharme, have done to avoid the catastrophic deployment of SAAQclic?
He would have “hired more employees,” he replied timidly during the study of credits in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Visibly nervous, the CEO confirmed that the Board of Directors had given the firm Price Waterhouse Coopers the mandate to audit the deployment of SAAQclic to find out what led to this computer mess. This is an over-the-counter contract worth $270,000. A report will be tabled by next summer.
“I am committed to making the main conclusions public,” promised the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault.
The launch last February of the new SAAQclic digital platform caused a chaotic transition and long queues outside SAAQ points of service. Even today, many computer problems persist and affect the provision of services to citizens.
The CEO reiterated that according to computer analyses, it was impossible to integrate SAAQclic in stages without having to close the services of the state-owned company for three weeks. “All the experts from the firms said that we might not go there by block,” he said, admitting to having few answers.
Geneviève Guilbault knew that this “was not the ideal scenario,” she said, pointing out that she did not have the computer skills to question the SAAQ’s decision.
For now, this fiasco has cost the SAAQ $2.6 million in overtime.
During a short press scrum, Éric Ducharme maintained that he was “taking care of getting the organization back on track” to “get through the wave”.
“It’s been improving for several days,” he said.
When Minister Guilbault dismissed CEO Denis Marsolais, she mentioned that his replacement would have the mission of evaluating the work of his management.
“It’s part of my job, but one piece at a time,” he said, noting that he wants to prioritize customer service. “On the administration team, I will one day be able to see that there are changes to be made and evaluate all the people.”
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