Quebec must respect the recommendations of the Gallant Commission and develop its own IT solutions, even if this may lead to cost overruns, says Health Minister Sonia Bélanger.
“It’s upsetting, but it’s best practice,” she replied to Parti Québécois MNA Joël Arseneau, who questioned her Tuesday morning about the costs of major IT projects during the review of the Health Ministry’s budget.
Arseneau specifically addressed the appointment scheduling IT project, whose costs have skyrocketed from $18 million to $126 million, as revealed by a Radio-Canada investigation.
The minister declined to confirm an exact total amount, stating only that the project cost “over $100 million.”
According to Radio-Canada, after asking the firm Petal to develop an orchestrator, the government reportedly decided to start the process all over again to develop its own solution.
On Tuesday, Bélanger defended this decision, saying she wanted to respect the recommendations of the Gallant Commission.
“There is one very, very clear recommendation in the Gallant report: to ensure that the government can develop its autonomy, and that is extremely important.
“So, it is in this context that the Quebec Ministry of Health decided to award a contract to CGI so that the government could have its own system.
“They develop it, and then it’s up to us, instead of being constantly at the mercy of a firm that develops a product with us but then goes and sells it to the rest of the world. That’s the direction.
“I understand that this is disturbing, but it’s the right practice we’re doing,” argued Bélanger.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
