The reverberations from the cock-up that is the federal government’s Phoenix pay system continue.
Problems with Phoenix have affected some 82,000 public service employees who are having trouble getting compensation.
Some have not been paid for months.
The results are predictable.
Many employees are watching their savings accounts tank, maxing out their credit cards and leaving unpaid bills at the edge of their desks.
So far, no one has figured out how to fix Phoenix.
Public Services Minister Judy Foote is promising that her department will provide compensation to any civil servant affected by the problems, including out-of-pocket expenses for banking fees.
Meanwhile, the CBC obtained newly released documents that indicate that federal officials were warned at the start of the year about potential security problems with the Phoenix system.
Foote says she only learned of the flaw this week and said none of personal information
Phoenix was introduced last year by the Conservative government, but
Marie Lemay, deputy minister for Public Services and Procurement, says the incoming Liberal government “grossly underestimated the time and training needed to move to the new system and clear out old cases, outstripping the capacity to respond.”
The government is hiring extra specialists to bring Phoenix to heel.
A dozen public sector unions are going to court.
With Canadian Press and CBC files
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