SAAQ enters new partnership with regional government

The Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) – Québec’s Crown corporation in charge of handling the province’s public auto insurance, driver licensing, and vehicle registration functions – has announced that it has formed a new partnership to better serve the residents of Nunavik.

Beginning this fall, SAAQ will deploy a mobile unit in the Nunavik region more often; the unit offers services related to driver licensing, vehicle registration, and the evaluation of driver competencies.

SAAQ also revealed that it will also help candidates in obtaining their driver’s licenses by offering the driver knowledge test in Inuktitut. The insurer sais it hopes that this gesture will also “[enhance] the language of the Inuit people.”

In late August, Kativik Regional Government chairperson Hilda Snowball met with SAAQ chair of the board of directors Konrad Sioui and SAAQ president and CEO Denis Marsolais to discuss the partnership, which formally launched this week.

“I am happy to see the acknowledgement the SAAQ is giving to our requests by travelling to the territory of Nunavik for the first time,” said Snowball in a statement. “I am proud of this partnership that will offer services adapted to meet the needs of our region.”

“I was strongly compelled by the requests made by the Kativik Regional Government and I see that the organization I preside, by committing to doing things differently, is showing that it cares about the issues experienced by Inuit communities,” added Sioui. “The regional government and all the citizens it serves deserve to receive public services that are adapted to the realities of Nunavik.”

“I have had excellent discussions with the Chairperson of the Kativik Regional Government and her team,” stated Marsolais. “It is now up to us, as an organization, to do everything we can to adapt our services to the particular needs of Nunavimmiut.”