Feds underestimated, ignored issues with Phoenix before rollout: Review
OTTAWA — A critical report about the federal government’s problem-plagued pay system says officials underestimated the project’s complexity and seemed to ignore warning signs before giving it the go-ahead.
The report released Thursday said the most senior officials in the public service didn’t fully comprehend the complexity of switching dozens of aging pay systems over to the Phoenix system, a change — first launched by the former Conservative government in 2009 — that was further complicated by cuts to the number of federal pay advisers.
The $165,000 review from an Ottawa-based consulting group, commissioned by the federal government, says briefings on the rollout were focused only on positive news, and that the department overseeing the project had a strong culture against “speaking truth to power.”
So even if there were concerns, the consultants say they were ignored in most cases, including concerns from departments like Health Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard that Phoenix wasn’t ready to handle their unique payroll needs.