One of those allegedly responsible for the failure of the Caisse de dépôt etplacement du Québec (CDPQ) in the Celsius Network has just been recruited by CGI, a company in which the Caisse has a stake and which receives millions of IT contracts from the manager of Quebecers’ Pension Fund.
The information technology (IT) consultancy has indeed confirmed to the Journal that Alexandre Synnett, the Caisse’s former senior vice president and chief technology officer, has served as CGI’s new senior vice president for the Capitale-National region since early June.
However, CGI is an important external provider of computer services to the Caisse. According to the Access to Information Act, the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company has received more than $50 million in mandates from the Caisse over the past three years, with just $22 million in 2022.
Unfounded allegation
When asked, the Caisse defended its former Vice-President’s decision to join the company, recalling that the CDPQ invests in almost 5,000 different companies and arguing that CGI – one of them – is a supplier. the Caisse for some thirty years, that is “long before Mr Synnett joined the organisation”.
In addition, CDPQ spokesperson Kate Monfette emailed two excerpts from CDPQ’s Code of Ethics and Conduct and claimed that Mr Synnett did not break any rules by joining the CGI.
Screenshot: Caisse website
Alexander Synnett. (Photo: Caisse de Depot)
“Mr. “Synnett has undeniable qualifications that make him the candidate of choice for a company working in the IT field,” she continued. His new position (…) is unrelated to our service contracts with CGI. Any allegation of conflict of interest or violation of ethical principles is without merit.”
The Celsius fiasco
The name of Alexandre Synnett remains, rightly or wrongly, closely linked to the $200 million loss made by the Caisse in the financial debacle of the American crypto bank Celsius Network.
At that time (from June 2020 to November 2022), Alexandre Synnett held the position of Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer at la Caisse. Before retiring in February 2023, he had been demoted to executive vice president of private technology placements three months earlier.
File photo, Francis Halin
The CEO of the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Charles Emond.
The CEO of the Caisse, Charles Emond, announced his resignation to the press at the presentation of the financial results for 2022. Synnett left our organization about two weeks ago. “He has decided to leave of his own free will,” he had said tersely and without further explanation.
another start
In a subsequent interview, Mr Emond indicated that he learned “many lessons” from the episode, which forced “an introspection” within the organization he led, and that CDPQ would be “even more vigilant” going forward. given emerging sectors.
Photo archive, QMI Agency
Claude Bergeron, former senior vice president and chief risk officer. The latter left the Caisse de depot etplacement du Québec earlier this year.
A few weeks earlier, Claude Bergeron, previously senior vice president and chief risk officer of the Caisse de dépôt, had also announced his resignation after the Celsius fiasco. The latter was replaced by David Latour.
Despite the changes in recent years, the Caisse de dépôt remains a major shareholder of CGI today. In March, the CDPQ still held around 19 million shares of the IT company’s shares, a stake worth 8.16% of the company.
Before joining the Caisse in 2010, Mr. Synnett worked at the National Bank of Canada for almost five years, as vice president of data warehousing and business intelligence and then as senior director of business intelligence expertise.
In collaboration with Sylvain Larocque.