The scandal of a $310 million contract with no transparency
Health Québec has just crossed a red line by entrusting its most sensitive data to Microsoft in a $310 million contract. Under the pretext of efficiency and modernity, this partnership opens the door to massive data exploitation by a foreign company subject to US law.
A dangerous technological dependence
The growing grip of US giants
This decision is part of a worrying long‑term trend. Since 2011, Quebec has awarded more than $2 billion in contracts to US digital giants. As a result, entire sectors of our economy depend on a handful of foreign platforms.
The use of Microsoft for health services in Quebec is not new. The Quebec Telehealth Network has relied on the company for years, with questionable results and repeated controversies over data security.
Major legal risks ignored
Choosing Microsoft directly exposes our health data to the most intrusive US laws. The CLOUD Act allows US authorities to access data stored on US companies’ servers, even abroad. Together with the Patriot Act, our data is no longer truly ours.
The situation becomes even more critical with the election of Donald Trump and the hostile stance of his administration towards privacy and foreign jurisdictions. Quebec could see its citizens’ health data seized or analysed without recourse.
The failure of an opaque decision‑making process
A glaring lack of transparency
The process of awarding this $310 million contract perfectly illustrates Health Québec’s drift. No public consultation, no market comparison, no call for tenders. Everything was done behind closed doors, as a fait accompli.
This practice raises fundamental questions about Health Québec’s ability to manage citizens’ data responsibly and democratically. Why bypass existing expertise and laws, and rush into such a risky agreement?
Neglected alternatives
The French experience shows that European alternatives exist and can be evaluated seriously. Three flagship projects – the Health Data Hub (Orange/Siemens), Luxembourg’s National Health Platform and Estonia’s eHealth – demonstrate that it is possible to build sovereign infrastructures that respect privacy.
In Quebec, this reflection seems entirely absent from the decision‑making process. No serious evaluation of alternatives, no feasibility study of local or European solutions. The government seems blindly seduced by the apparent simplicity of “big tech” solutions.
The disastrous consequences of an irresponsible choice
An unsustainable economic bill
The promised cost savings from relying on private cloud services are not forthcoming. The costs of this contract are enormous – licence fees, support, upgrades and dependency on Microsoft over at least 15 years. A sovereign infrastructure would have been more cost‑effective in the long run.
These huge sums could have been used to develop sovereign infrastructure, create skilled jobs in Quebec and build local expertise rather than enrich a foreign giant.
The loss of control of our strategic data
By entrusting our health data to Microsoft, Quebec relinquishes its ability to control and protect some of the most sensitive information about its citizens. We lose our sovereignty and increase the risk of commercial exploitation.
Towards a digital sovereignty for Quebec
Solutions exist
The League of Rights and Freedoms has launched a campaign for digital sovereignty that proposes concrete solutions. The government must “take back control” by investing in local expertise, open‑source solutions and sovereign cloud infrastructures.
The urgency of action
Time is running out. Each new contract with US tech giants pushes us further into a dependency that will be increasingly difficult and costly to escape. Quebec must act quickly to change direction.
A matter of national dignity
The choice by Health Québec to entrust our most intimate data to Microsoft is not just a technical decision: it is an abandonment of sovereignty that affects our dignity. What message does it send to the population?
Our health data is not a commodity to be sold off to the highest bidder. It is a collective heritage that deserves to be protected by institutions that are accountable to us, not to shareholders.
The digital future of Quebec is being decided now. Will we accept becoming a digital colony, or will we have the courage to build our own national infrastructure? The answer depends on our collective mobilisation.