Miramichi is home to the government’s main centre for its new pay system, Phoenix, which has failed to compensate more than 80,000 public servants properly.Getty Images/iStockphoto
The acting mayor of the small Maritime city at the centre of the public service pay fiasco has a message for the more than 80,000 federal government workers who have not been paid properly: It is not our fault.
"In the community, there's a level of discomfort because of the intense scrutiny," Adam Lordon, acting mayor of Miramichi, N.B., told The Globe and Mail on Wednesday.
The coastal city of about 18,000 people is home to the government's main centre for its new pay system, Phoenix, which has made headlines for failing to compensate more than 80,000 public servants properly. Mr. Lordon asked frustrated public servants to remember that the pay centre staff in Miramichi are working as hard as they can to address their concerns.
Mr. Lordon said the pay centre has been a "life saver" for the city, which suffered job losses in recent years when pulp-and-paper mills in the area closed. He said he is working to ensure that Miramichi does not get blamed for the problems, which would have unfolded regardless of the central pay system's location.
In cities like Miramichi, residents voice their concerns directly to their local political leaders. Mr. Lordon said he has spoken with many of the pay centre employees, who are feeling the pressure of the Phoenix problems. "If I could speak to those federal public servants all across the country who are rightfully frustrated that they are not getting paid, I would tell them just be mindful that these people that you're speaking to, this is not their fault," Mr. Lordon said.
Staff at the pay centre have been working around the clock taking calls from public servants affected by Phoenix, which the government launched in February. Of the 300,000 people paid through the new system, 81,820 – nearly a third – have missed paycheques, or been over- or underpaid. The government has said it will be months before all of the issues are resolved.
Mr. Lordon, who has been acting mayor since the death of mayor Gerry Cormier last month, said morale at the pay centre is low.
"The morale could certainly be better, but I think everybody has an eye on the fact that this is temporary.They [pay centre workers] want to be successful. They would like to go to work and not feel under the gun," he said.
Nearly 600 people work at the pay centre, some of whom moved to Miramichi from across the country. It opened in May, 2012, as part of the former Conservative government's plan to modernize the 40-year-old pay system for public servants and consolidate services in a single location. The Conservatives chose Miramichi as a tradeoff for jobs lost there when the long-gun registry shut down.
Mr. Lordon said he is in constant contact with local MP Pat Finnigan, who is in touch with Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote. Ms. Foote has ordered the opening of a temporary pay centre in Gatineau, Que., to help with the backlog, and asked Auditor-General Michael Ferguson to review the planning and implementation of Phoenix – something Mr. Lordon welcomed.
"We hope this report stays, in terms of the scope, on the training [of employees] and the [Phoenix] software, and not the location of the facility," Mr. Lordon said.
The debacle reached new levels this week, when documents released under the Access to Information Act revealed that Phoenix breached public servants' privacy. The documents showed that a flaw in the system allowed up to 70,000 public servants to access the personal information of the 300,000 workers paid through Phoenix, including social insurance numbers. Senior officials were warned of the problem on Jan. 18, according to the documents, and it continued until at least April.
A spokeswoman for the privacy commissioner said Public Services and Procurement Canada "reported this matter to our office and we are following up with them."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in on the Phoenix issues on Wednesday.
"We are working right away on helping the most vulnerable while we make sure that the system functions for everyone. And it's something that I have engaged in personally and tasked the clerk of the Privy Council to oversee."
In the meantime, 13 public service unions are taking the government to Federal Court over the matter, seeking a ruling that the government must pay public servants properly and punctually. Some unions have said they are considering taking further action against the government as the Phoenix problems continue, but did not expand on specific plans.