Federal Auditor General Michael Ferguson has issued his fall report and he comes down hard on those responsible for the snafu-stricken Phoenix public service pay system.
Ferguson says it’s going to take years and “much more” than the original projected $540 million over three years to fix the chronic and ongoing problems with Phoenix, which currently has 150,000 public servants waiting in the financial lurch for pay requests totaling about 500-million-dollars.
He says Public Services & Procurement Canada and the Treasury Board failed to recognize early enough the depth and severity of the Phoenix problem, and failed to involve other departments in developing a timely plan to deal with the issue.
Additionally, some 1,400 new or re-allocated employees have been seconded to resolving Phoenix, in addition to 550 staff at the Miramichi Pay Centre, more than offsetting the savings Phoenix was supposed to produce by eliminating the need for 1,200 jobs.