Liberal government launched Phoenix with ‘no oversight’ in place: Qualtrough

The estimated cost of stabilizing Phoenix, the federal government’s snafu-stricken civil service pay system, has already exceeded $600 million and will likely continue to climb, the minister responsible for the file told a Commons committee Tuesday.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough made the prediction as she acknowledged there was no mechanism in place to gauge the effectiveness of Phoenix when the Liberals launched it early last year.

“It’s clear government oversight was not in place,’’ Qualtrough told the Commons estimates committee before adding up the spending the government has committed to date to bring Phoenix to a so-called “steady state.’’

Nonetheless, Qualtrough told the committee she expects Phoenix to be able to pay government employees “on time’’ by the end of 2018.

Ensuring the government has a better pay system in place beyond Phoenix is another matter — one that the minister said could end up taking “years.’’

Qualtrough’s comments followed earlier testimony by a department official to a separate committee, where deputy minister Marie Lemay confirmed the government has no choice but to stick with Phoenix in the short term.

“There is no fall-back,’’ Lemay told the public accounts committee. “There is no former system to go back to.’’

Auditor general Michael Ferguson last week issued a blistering report on Phoenix, warning that stabilizing it will take years and cost more than $540 million.

In answering questions about his report, Ferguson — whose report likened the situation to a similar and ongoing seven-year, $1.2-billion debacle in Australia — suggested the government should think about abandoning the system altogether.

Qualtrough’s parliamentary secretary, Liberal MP Steve Mackinnon, said earlier this week that there simply is no feasible alternative to Phoenix.

On Tuesday, Ferguson said the government needs to work in two phases to resolve the pay system fiasco.

“The first priority is to pay people the right amount on time,’’ he said. “However, after that is achieved, there will still be work to do to get a system that processes pay efficiently.

“The longer-term solution needs to last and be as efficient as it can be.’’