(Quebec) Quebec’s ombudsman warned Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) teams in the months leading up to the digital transition, which Legault said turned out to be a fiasco. In January, the SAAQ assured that “everything was planned for a successful transition.”
Posted at 10:33 am.
This is one of the findings of the Public Protector, who presented his annual activity report on Thursday. We learn that their teams met with those of SAAQ in the fall, but also on January 26th – when most SAAQ services were suspended.
“The Public Protector was concerned about the impact of the transition to SAAQclic and questioned SAAQ on the measures taken given the scale of this crucial phase,” we write in the report. “The organization responded that everything was planned for a successful transition. Reality has proven quite the opposite,” we add.
According to the Quebec Ombudsman, the SAAQ “underestimated the consequences of suspending most services from January 26 to February 19, 2023 and the accumulation of outstanding transactions.”
He also notes that “the online deployment of SAAQclic and the use of the new government identification service have presented some problems.” Citizens therefore “massively” used the telephone or went directly to a service point.
Here too, the SAAQ “underestimated the demand” and “was not in a position to respond to it”.
The Protector also emphasizes that “many dissatisfied citizens” turned to him to “settle their cases and obtain services that were essential to them”.
Quebec’s ombudsman says the complaints it receives “regularly highlight the fact that the implementation and updating of departmental and agency computer services can cause problems for citizens and staff.”
In this context, discussions between the Quebec Ombudsman and the SAAQ began in the summer before the transition.
The Quebec Ombudsman welcomes the intervention of Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, who has taken corrective measures.
“Although this was late, the public protector is satisfied with the measures taken. The fact is that better planning of the relocation and more effective communication with citizens would have made it possible to limit the damage and costs of the corrective measures,” we write.
The company PricewaterhouseCoopers also took a close look at the failures of digital transformation at SAAQ. Its report, published earlier this month, concluded that the SAAQ “underestimated” the workload and impact of its digital transformation. This failed turnaround plunged the Legault government into crisis at the beginning of the year. The SAAQ’s CEO, Denis Marsolais, was removed and replaced by Éric Ducharme, who was by then secretary of the finance committee.