Crisis at the SAAQ | “We could have done better”, admits Éric Caire

Faced with the continuing failures, Quebec continues to add new measures to stem the crisis at the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), allowing truckers, for example, to “regularize their situation” until June 12. Minister Éric Caire does not close the door to a parliamentary commission, admitting that it would have been possible to do better.

“I signed a ministerial decree which will ensure that they too will have 90 more days. […] Truckers will have until June 12 to regularize their situation. None of them will suffer any consequences from the fact that we can have certain slowdowns in various service centers, ”assured the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, at a press conference Monday at Carrefour Langelier.

For thousands of Quebec truckers, the International Registration Plan (IRP) regime expired on March 31, and the industry feared slowdowns in their activities due to the situation.

Quebec had already, last Friday, announced a suspension for a period of 90 days of the seizure of a vehicle to which a driver who has not renewed his driver’s license is normally exposed. The exception to the rule will concern users whose permit was not renewed between January 25 and March 9. For truckers, the decree will cover everyone, without exception.

Since Monday, moreover, citizens can create their account with the Government Authentication Service (SAG) directly in a branch of the SAAQ, by obtaining assistance on site. About 150 additional employees have been sent as reinforcements to seven service centers where it will be possible to do so, namely those of Carrefour Langelier in Montreal, but also in Gatineau, Laval, Longueuil, Lebourgneuf, Drummondville and Saguenay. Other points of service could then be added.

The government will also publish on Tuesday the average waiting times for the busiest service centers on the SAAQ website. “I want people to stop being stressed, and also we want to distribute the traffic better. We are going to take a rhythm here, and at some point, we will return to normal, ”supported M^me Guilbault.

Parliamentary committee

The Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital, Éric Caire, meanwhile opened the door on Monday to testify in a parliamentary committee to discuss the crisis, as demanded by the Liberal Party of Marc Tanguay for several days.

“It is not me who answers for what the parliamentary committees will do. They are sovereign, they make their decisions. But if the Commission decides to take up the initiative mandate, I will most certainly respond to this summons, ”he replied on this subject.

In the same breath, Mr. Caire, however, argued that “the opposition has the interpellations, the question period and the debate at the end of the session to hold the ministers accountable”. “The opposition does not lack tools,” he said.

The Parti Québécois, for its part, intends to table a motion Tuesday in the National Assembly to mandate the Committee on Public Administration (CAP) to hear “as soon as possible” the ministers Caire and Guilbault, as well as the high management of the SAAQ and the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital, “so that they expose the facts that led to this malfunction”.

“We need a certain number of lessons, conclusions on the best practices to put in place. If the SAG has worked well, as Mr. Caire says, then tell us how we are going to proceed for transitions in even larger ministries, for example in the field of health, “explained to The Press Parti Québécois Joël Arseneau, who will table the motion in the National Assembly.

Éric Caire admits wrongdoing

After Geneviève Guilbault last week, however, Minister Caire admits wrongdoing in turn. “Did we communicate enough, did we sufficiently inform the population? The answer to this question is no, clearly not. Could we have done better? Absolutely”, he acknowledged, arguing however that the situation is improving and that the systems are doing “better and better”.

Éric Caire also attacked the Parliamentary Office of the Montreal Journal, who reported last week, citing sources familiar with the matter, that as of last summer, his department was “aware that no tangible communication plan with the SAAQ had been established”. “The Parliamentary Office is wrong and I have documents that prove that in fact, as early as June, the SAAQ was telling us that everything was green, that expenses were below what was budgeted and that they were confident of delivering the system on January 3,” he replied.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice on Monday urged motorists who allegedly “unfairly” received a ticket for not paying their license or registration renewal fees to “submit a plea of ​​not guilty” as soon as possible. .

“Upon receipt of a plea of ​​not guilty, verifications with the SAAQ will be carried out to find out whether the duties had actually been paid at the time the statement of offense was issued or whether the person benefited from an additional period to do it. If necessary, the statement of offense will be withdrawn”, assured the Ministry on this subject.