It is impossible to know what lobbying activities were carried out to influence the government as part of the digital shift of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, deplores the lobbying commissioner.
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“No entry in the register of lobbyists specifically or by name targeted the CASA program or the SAAQclic platform,” revealed Jean-François Routhier, visiting the Gallant commission on Thursday afternoon.
To arrive at this observation, the commissioner analyzed the registrations published in the register between 2013 and 2025 by the main companies involved in this program, namely LGS, Alythia, R3D Conseil, and SAP.
“The registrations are all generic and imprecise, covering multiple public institutions and numerous types of contracts in the field of information technology, without specifying specific projects or contracts,” noted Mr. Routhier.
“It was thus impossible for a citizen or a public office holder to know that specific activities were carried out in connection with this program,” said Mr. Routhier.
During the same period, these four companies received contracts totaling $840 million.
However, such a lack of precise registrations for a project of this scale is not normal, according to the commissioner.
“Given the scale and duration of the CASA program, it is more than reasonable to believe that lobbying activities were carried out among public office holders, before or in parallel with public calls for tenders,” said Mr. Routhier.
Avoid further scandals
For the commissioner, this situation once again illustrates the need to modernize the Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act, a demand he has been making for several years.
“The law contains significant loopholes which allow, among other things, companies not to declare their lobbying activities,” he said.
“Among these, the threshold of the ‘significant part of the employment or functions’ allows many to avoid the disclosure of their activities, because they do not carry out lobbying for a ‘significant part’ of their function. However, these influential communications are no less relevant for citizens.”
“We must not wait for the next scandal before acting,” he added.
Several investigations
In the meantime, Lobbyisme Québec is working with the Public Procurement Authority (AMP) and the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAQ) to identify undeclared lobbying activities linked to the digital shift of the SAAQ.
Like the Gallant commission, these investigations focus on the failed launch of the SAAQclic platform in winter 2023 as well as the significant cost overruns associated with this project, which, ultimately, should be around $1.1 billion.
