As François Legault’s hotly anticipated testimony drew to a close around noon Tuesday at the public inquiry probing massive cost overruns in the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec’s rocky digital transformation project, commissioner Denis Gallant magnanimously invited Quebec’s premier to have the last word.

Legault eagerly seized the opportunity to offer his take on the so-called SAAQclic fiasco, saying he called the inquiry because taxpayers deserve to know how and why costs doubled, and who should be held accountable.

“The reason I called the commission (is) 500 million (dollars) is a large amount,” Legault said in his wrap-up soliloquy at Gallant’s behest. “Quebecers expect there to be consequences.”

These famous last words may come back to haunt Legault. So may his decision to call the inquiry in the first place.

The premier may be correct that the public expects accountability for a botched IT upgrade that ballooned to over $1 billion when it was supposed to cost less than $500 million. And he is right that answers are needed to understand how that was allowed to happen. But Legault may not like who bears the consequences at the end of the day if Quebecers decide to mete them out at the ballot box in October 2026’s general election.

Quebec’s embattled premier is nearing the end of his second term in office with sagging popularity ratings.........

© Montreal Gazette