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OTTAWA — The head of Canada’s largest federal public service union is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to launch a full-scale public inquiry into the Phoenix pay system debacle.
Tens of thousands of government workers have been paid incorrectly since the government switched to a new pay system in 2016, a decision that Auditor General Michael Ferguson lambasted in a recent report as an “incomprehensible failure” that exposed dysfunction in Ottawa’s bureaucratic culture.
Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 180,000 workers, called for the public inquiry Thursday night in a letter to Trudeau. He wrote that the government failed to consult the union about the changes under Phoenix, and argued those responsible for managing the system need to be held accountable.
“There is an absolute requirement to find a way to expose and overturn this kind of damaging culture in the federal public service,” Aylward wrote. “We cannot let such a disaster repeat itself.”
Ashley Michnowski, spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough, did not say whether the government would consider an inquiry. In an emailed statement, she blamed the previous Conservative government for “choosing a high-risk, cost-cutting route” for the Phoenix pay system, and said the government has a “clear path forward towards stabilization.”
While silent on the call for an inquiry, the government announced Friday that it will begin working with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the second-largest government workers’ union, to develop a new pay system to replace Phoenix — a move that was promised with $16 million in funding in the 2018 budget.
“These pay problems are completely unacceptable. The Government of Canada is working on solutions to stabilize the existing pay system as quickly as possible and to develop options leading to the next generation system,” read a statement from PIPSC and the Treasury Board.
Phoenix was conceived under the previous Conservative government and came into effect in 2016, when the Liberals were in power. Officials from Public Services and Procurement Canada have explained the new system had trouble registering changes to employees’ regular pay, such as when someone received a promotion or went on parental leave. This created a situation in which thousands of workers have been overpaid, underpaid or, in some cases, not paid at all.
In a report on Phoenix tabled in Parliament on May 29, Ferguson concluded the system was mismanaged from the very beginning. The auditor general said there was a lack of oversight “which allowed Phoenix executives to implement the system even though they knew it had significant problems.” Instead of saving money, it has created problems and has cost Ottawa hundreds of millions of dollars so far, Ferguson concluded.
Canada’s top bureaucrat, Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, rejected Ferguson’s report at Parliament’s public accounts committee earlier this week. He said the report contains “sweeping generalizations,” and defended PSPC and the wider culture in the bureaucracy.
“That shows absolutely no respect for federal public sector workers in this country,” Aylward said of Wernick’s dismissal. “We want to get to get to the bottom of it, to ensure this never happens again.”
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