The Board of Directors exercises decision-making power over the SAAQ's policies and operations to ensure that it fulfills its obligations and achieves the expected level of performance.
The Board of Directors exercises the functions prescribed in the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises.
It is composed of 9 to 15 members appointed by the government and subject to the Code d'éthique et de déontologie des administrateurs et vice-présidents de la Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (PDF, 231.2 ko)This file does not meet the Web accessibility standard. (the code of ethics and rules of conduct for administrators and vice-presidents of the SAAQ - in French only).
The Board of Directors meets around thirty times a year. After each meeting of the Board and its committees, the Board meets behind closed doors to allow the directors to discuss issues in the absence of the SAAQ’s management.
In addition to assuming the functions and holding the powers conferred on it by law, the Board of Directors:
Konrad Sioui has a master’s degree in public administration from the École nationale d’administration publique and specializes in strategic, economic and social mandates. He was the Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation from 2008 to 2020 and previously acted as General Manager of the Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam Innu Nation, as senior advisor to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and as specialist on First Nations at the Senate of Canada. He was also the Founding Chief and Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Québec and Labrador.
Very early in his career, Mr. Sioui became involved in issues of social solidarity by working as an economic development and indigenous employment officer at the Department of Employment and Immigration of Canada.
Éric Ducharme holds a master’s degree in economics from Université Laval, and has 33 years of experience in Québec’s public service. He began his career in 1990 as a research and socio-economic planning officer for the Bureau de la statistique under the authority of the Ministère du Conseil exécutif. Mr. Ducharme then worked at the Ministère des Finances from 1996 to 2016, where he climbed the ranks, shared his expertise in public administration, and spearheaded many major projects. During his years at the Ministère, he served as director of corporate taxation, director general of corporate policy, assistant deputy minister of the economy and intergovernmental relations, and associate deputy minister of the economy and associate deputy minister of corporate fiscal policy, economic development and government corporations. He also served as Chair of the Commission d'examen sur la fiscalité québécoise from 2014 to 2015.
In 2016, Mr. Ducharme left the Ministère des Finances to work for Revenu Québec as a member of the board of directors and president and chief executive officer. He was named Chair of the Conseil du trésor in 2018, and held that position for over four years.
Éric Ducharme was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of the SAAQ by the Québec government on April 5, 2023.
Michel Bouchard holds a law degree from Université Laval and has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 1973. He has held the title of Avocatus Emeritus since 2007. From 1978 to 1988, he was a Québec crown prosecutor and Chief Crown Prosecutor in criminal and penal matters. From 1988 to 1993, he was Associate Deputy Minister of Justice in Québec and then Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Québec until 2003. He was Associate Deputy Minister of Justice Canada until 2007. In 2007 he once again became Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Québec, a position he held until 2010. From 2011 to 2017 he was President of the board of directors of Éducaloi. Since 2011, Mr. Bouchard has been a member of the board of directors of Revenu Québec, as well as a member of the Federal Judicial Advisory Committee for the Québec East region, which is responsible for assessing the qualifications of lawyers who apply to become Superior Court and Court of Appeal judges.
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Customer Service Committee
Louise Champoux-Paillé is an economist and holds a master’s degree with distinction in management and a master’s degree in museology. She has worked in the financial and professional services sector for 30 years, holding various strategic positions, including Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau des services financiers du Québec, a provincial regulatory agency that governs the distribution of insurance products, mutual funds and financial planning services. She is currently co-director of the Lorenzetti Centre for Women in Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Concordia University, and teaches governance and risk management at UQAM’s School of Management. She was appointed Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in 2012 and received the Order of Canada in 2016. She is also Vice-President of the CHU Sainte-Justine Board of Directors, a member of the Board of Directors of Canada Post and an external member of the governance committee of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec.
Chair of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
Corinne Charette holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Concordia University. She has several years of experience in both the private sector and the Canadian public service. She has notably served as the Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada’s Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as well as the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of the Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications Sector at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. She has also held management positions at Transat, CANAFE, CIBC and KPMG. She currently works as an assistant professor in the Business Technology Management program at Concordia University, and is also involved in mentoring start-ups at Concordia’s District 3 Innovation Hub. She has served as an external member of the Elections Canada Audit Committee since the spring of 2022 and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation of Greater Montréal since June 2021. Since 2018, she has served as an independent member representing Québec on the board of ENCQOR, a public-private partnership in the field of 5G communications.
Chair of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Customer Service Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
Christian Cyr was, until recently, an active member of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the American Society of Actuaries (SOA). He holds an MBA from Concordia University and a degree in actuarial science from Université Laval. He has held senior executive and strategic advisor positions in various financial institutions and insurance companies. His responsibilities have led him to lead and support teams of professionals specialized in strategic planning, marketing, solution and product development, customer service, actuarial sciences and project management. He has also served on the board of directors of Intégration Jeunesse du Québec and NEI Investments.
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Customer Service Committee
Member of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Jean-Marie De Koninck holds a bachelor of science degree from Université Laval and a master’s degree and doctorate in mathematics from Temple University in Pennsylvania. He is Professor Emeritus at Université Laval’s Département de mathématiques et de statistique and the president and founder of Operation Red Nose. He was also very active in the media during the ten years in which he served as Chair of the Table québécoise de la sécurité routière Jean-Marie De Koninck heads several projects, including Science and Mathematics in Action (SMAC), which aims to stimulate young people’s interest in science and mathematics, and to make mathematics more accessible to the general public. He has authored 16 books and has had 163 articles published in scientific journals. He is also an excellent popular mathematics and science writer, and has written works for the “En chair et en maths” collection and a book on road safety entitled Routes et déroutes. His most recent collection is entitled Cette science qui ne cesse de nous étonner. He also serves on the boards of directors of Operation Red Nose and Université Laval’s Club de natation du Rouge et Or.
Member of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Stéphan Deschênes holds a bachelor’s degree in rural engineering from Université Laval and is a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec. He has worked mainly for the Québec’s Ministère des Transports where he has acted as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for major roadwork projects and the Montréal metropolitan region, as well as General Manager of major projects such as the Turcot Interchange and the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine Bridge-Tunnel. Mr. Deschênes is currently a retired public administrator.
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Customer Service Committee
Stéphanie Desforges has a master’s degree in public administration from the Université de Moncton, as well as a bachelor’s degree in public communication from Université Laval. She has worked on public relations and strategic positioning with several organizations, including as a manager at TACT after spending time in France working as a writer for Québec businesses. She has been the Director of Public Affairs and Strategic Development for the Saguenay Port Authority since 2019. She has also launched her own company that sells sports and outdoor accessories. Ms. Desforges has sat on various boards of directors, including the board of the Fondation de l’Institut de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec and the Salon Carrière Formation de Québec.
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Customer Service Committee
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
As a result of an accident that almost cost her her life in 2010, Claudia Di Iorio is on a mission to raise awareness of the importance of road safety, particularly among youth. She gives talks in high schools, CÉGEPs and universities to raise awareness of the consequences of drinking and driving and other unsafe driving behaviours. As spokesperson for the public road safety consultation held in the winter of 2017, she acquired considerable knowledge about the current state of road safety in Québec.
A graduate of Concordia University and McGill University’s Faculty of Law, she is a member of the Barreau du Québec. She works as an attorney and legal advisor at Legal Suite Canada, a company that edits legal software. She also sits on the board of directors of the Bureau du taxi de Montréal and gives talks about young people and governance in various universities.
Richard Gagnon holds a bachelor of arts degree from Université Laval and was a Fellow Chartered Administrator from 1996 to 2017. Over the course of his career, he has served as director general of various health care institutions, the Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec and the Chambre des notaires du Québec. From 2003 to 2017, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Humania Assurances, a pan-Canadian health insurance company. During that same period, he served as President of the Regroupement des assureurs de personnes à charte du Québec. He has chaired the board of directors of Éduc’alcool since 2017 and serves as a director of Innergex, a renewable energy company, Professionals’ Financial and the Institut de médiation et d’arbitrage du Québec.
Member of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Olivier Normandin holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa and a certificate in international relations from the Université de Sherbrooke and has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 2010. He practises business law and is a partner at Normandin Gravel Rhéaume Avocats inc. Mr. Normandin sits on the board of directors of the Barreau de Bedford and acts as treasurer. He has also been a member of several other boards of directors, including the boards of the Fondation du Centre hospitalier de Granby and the Centre de prévention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska. Mr. Normandin also works as an instructor for entrepreneurs in his region as part of a program created by the Cégep de Granby’s business services office.
Chair of the Governance and Ethics Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Commitee
Sylvie Thivierge is a tax expert and a chartered professional accountant. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a master’s degree in taxation from the Université de Sherbrooke. She has worked for accounting firms, including Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and Chamberland Hodge, where she assisted several businesses with their development, expansion, merger and activity transfer projects. She was also a college taxation and accounting teacher for many years. Since 2005, she has held the position of Finance Director at Groupe Immobilier Papillon. She has served on various boards of directors of community organizations, including the Fondation Le Renfort and Coup d’elle, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. She has also served as a mentor for entrepreneurs and was a joint head mentor on the steering committee of the Cellule de mentorat du Haut-Richelieu, member of the Réseau M.
Chair of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
Member of the Governance et Ethics Committee
Louise Turgeon is a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec and has spent the majority of her career in senior executive positions at Desjardins Sécurité financière, as well as at the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec. Within Mouvement Desjardins, she also held management positions in internal auditing, finance, customer service and business development.
Since 2003, Louise Turgeon has served as administrator with various boards. She is currently Second Vice-President of the Board of Directors and President of the Audit and Risk Management Committee at UV Assurance, and is a member of the Board of Directors, President of the Audit and Risk Management Committee and member of the governance, ethics and human resources committee of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
Lisa To holds an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University. She has held various management positions at the National Bank of Canada. She is currently Head of Financial Management and Performance at the Business Development Bank of Canada, where she has worked since 2013. She has two decades of experience in the banking industry and in the areas of management and process improvement. She also sits on the board of directors of the Association du Québec pour enfants avec problèmes auditifs.
As of December 1, 2022, the Board of Directors has 15 members, including the President and Chief Executive Officer (who serves as an ex officio member). Its members include 7 women, 3 of whom are between the ages of 25 and 50 and 4 of whom are 51 or older, and 8 men, of whom 1 are between the ages of 25 and 50 and 7 are 51 or older. The Board also includes two members belonging to a target group.
In 2020, the SAAQ offered its directors a conference on the impacts of remote working on maintaining organizational culture. Members were also given training related to their role as directors, whereas others who are members of professional orders participated in continuing education seminars.
Last update: June 7, 2023
