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 order. […] Truckers will have until June 12 to regularize their situation. None of them will suffer any consequences from the fact that we may 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 business slowdowns due to the situation.

Quebec had already announced last Friday 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 SAQ, 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 at the Langelier hub in Montreal, but also in Gatineau, Laval, Longueuil, Lebourgneuf, Drummondville and Saguenay. Other points of service could then be added.

As of Tuesday, the government will also publish the average wait times for the busiest service centers on the SAAQ website, in order to allow people to better plan their visit.

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 official opposition in Quebec.

“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.

After Geneviève Guilbault last week, the CAQ minister, however, admits wrongdoing in turn. “Did we communicate enough, did we inform the population enough? The answer to this question is no, clearly not. Could we have done better. Absolutely,” he acknowledged.

Éric Caire nevertheless attacked the Parliamentary Office of the Journal de Montréal, which reported last week, citing sources familiar with the matter, that as of last summer, his department was “aware that no tangible plan of communication with the SAAQ had been established”. “The Parliamentary Office is wrong and I have documents that prove that indeed, 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 to deliver the system on January 3,” he said.

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

In a press release published on Monday, the ministry indicates that the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) and the Office of Offenses and Fines “are putting in place all the measures to ensure that citizens are not not prosecuted or convicted unjustly because of the situation prevailing at the SAAQ”.

To facilitate the situation, Quebec invites all persons who have received a statement of offense “for having failed to pay the renewal fees for their driver’s license or the registration of their vehicle in particular, when they had made the payment of their right, to enter a plea of ​​not guilty or to call the number indicated on the back of their statement of offence”.

“Upon receipt of a plea of ​​not guilty, verifications with the SAAQ will be carried out to find out whether the fees 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, ”also assures the ministry on this subject.

Moreover, the government also affirms that the stakeholders of the municipal courts “have been informed of the approach adopted by the ministry and the DPCP so that they also take the necessary measures”.