Yves Ouellet, former right-hand man to Quebec Premier François Legault at the Ministry of the Executive Council, refuted claims of being informed about a budget deficit of over $200 million for the SAAQclic platform in September 2022.
Testifying at the Gallant Commission the day after the Premier and his chief of staff were questioned, Ouellet contradicted former SAAQ CEO Denis Marsolais’s assertion that he had been notified of an additional $222 million during a meeting on September 7, 2022.
During the meeting, Ouellet recalled discussions about the upcoming launch of the SAAQclic platform, including its progress, budget, and timeline. He emphasized that if there had been a mention of a $200 million shortfall, alarms would have been raised, but Marsolais never indicated any cost overruns.
As the Secretary General under Legault from 2018 to 2023, Ouellet was the highest-ranking civil servant in the government before taking on the role of President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).
The credibility of Marsolais’s previous testimony at the Gallant Commission is now under scrutiny, with a political advisor to Minister François Bonnardel stating that he had no memory of being warned about the $222 million overrun. Alain Généreux, the advisor, noted that he would have probed further had he been informed of such a significant budget discrepancy.
