"A narrative that does not correspond to the reality of the SAAQ's history": Karl Malenfant criticizes the Gallant Commission hearings

In the spotlight since the SAAQclic fiasco hit the headlines, former SAAQ vice-president Karl Malenfant poured his heart out on social media just before meeting behind closed doors with the Gallant Commission on Tuesday.

• Also read: SAAQclic fiasco: here is the chronology of events

• Also read: Gallant Commission: participant status refused to Karl Malenfant

• Also read: SAAQclic fiasco: former CEO Denis Marsolais refused to fire Karl Malenfant and is sorry that the SAAQ failed in its task of serving the public well

• Also read: SAAQclic Fiasco: Karl Malenfant put pressure on to circumvent the rules and the SAAQ wiped its feet on the law

It should be remembered that the man who spearheaded the digital shift at the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) tried, but failed, to avoid the obligation to meet behind closed doors with Commissioner Gallant and investigators. Mr. Malenfant preferred everything to be public, several media outlets reported last week.

In a lengthy post on the social network LinkedIn published Tuesday before the closed-door meeting, Mr. Malenfant immediately referred to the "SAAQclic fiasco" as an alleged story, "fueled by the political class."

Setting the stage for a five-page statement, the former IT boss of the SAAQ denounced in particular "the personal insults" that were hurled at him. It should be noted that he has been criticized and singled out by several former colleagues since the start of the work of the public commission tasked with shedding light on the SAAQclic scandal, which cost taxpayers $1.1 billion, at least $500 million more than expected.

Second refusal

In his letter, he said he was initially "relieved" that Prime Minister François Legault announced the creation of a public inquiry commission.

"I candidly thought that the story of the SAAQ's digital transformation could be explained to the general public and that the biased report of the VGQ [Auditor General of Quebec] would be dismissed," Malenfant relates.

However, "by closely following the commission's hearings, I noticed that a narrative was being constructed that did not correspond to the reality of the SAAQ's history," he regrets.

The man many see as the architect of the SAAQclic fiasco then laments that the Gallant commission refused him participant status, which would have allowed him to cross-examine witnesses.

He argues that obtaining this status would also have allowed him to "rectify" the story of the events surrounding SAAQclic.

Reputation

He also claims that it was not so much to restore his reputation as "with a view to seeking the truth" that he wanted to obtain participant status. This would also have allowed him to be represented by a lawyer and to put forward his point of view during the final hearings.

"Far be it from me to dictate to the commissioner how to conduct his work," wrote Mr. Malenfant. However, he further expressed his concern that the commission, under the cover of the time allocated to it to submit its report, would not get to the bottom of things.

Karl Malenfant is expected to appear before the commission as a witness in the fall.