Quebec’s auto insurance board has undergone a change in leadership following the troubled rollout of its online platform.
The provincial government’s cabinet appointed Éric Ducharme as the new CEO of SAAQ, replacing Denis Marsolais as the head of the agency.
Ducharme’s appointment comes as SAAQ continues to deal with issues related to the February launch of SAAQclic, an online platform that was designed to simplify transactions such as license renewal, registration payments, and exam reservations.
The platform’s troubled rollout led to a backlog of 400,000 transactions and caused weeks-long service delays, prompting Premier François Legault to announce plans to have SAAQ’s leadership evaluated.
Speaking with the press last week, Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault acknowledged that the SAAQClic project is a huge undertaking for any organization but maintained that it was the responsibility of the CEO to foresee any problems.
“This should have been [planned] a lot better,” the minister said via CTV News Montreal.
She also thanked Marsolais for his service.
Ducharme’s appointment was confirmed last week, and he took over as SAAQ’s CEO on Thursday.
The former CEO of Revenue Quebec, Ducharme holds a master's degree in economics from the Université Laval and is currently the Treasury Board Secretariat.
Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel congratulated Ducharme on his appointment, posting a tweet that described him as a “rigorous and dedicated man.”
“I would like to warmly thank Éric Ducharme who has supported me as TB secretary since my appointment as president,” she said. “He is a rigorous and dedicated man who truly cares about public service. I wish him much success in his new duties.”
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