Very well.
I can certainly understand the strong feelings. I've heard from a lot of folks in Elmwood—Transcona who work for the federal public service and have had their lives turned upside down by the failure of the government to make payroll in a timely way.
I appreciate the point you made in the opening statement about the government putting the emphasis on recovering overpayments instead of ensuring that people get what they are entitled to for the work they do, and that they set their monthly budgets accordingly as well. We know that when there are big shortfalls in your monthly budget, it makes a big difference.
I'm wondering if you can share with the committee—I know you spoke to some of this during your opening remarks—some things that you think could be done right away.
I remember years ago suggesting that if the government had to devolve payroll to local managers to do it by hand, it looked like we'd be a lot better off than what it's currently trying to do, yet it has persisted in the strategy of trying to use an electronic payroll system that simply doesn't work.
I don't think anyone wants to see the government doing payroll by hand, but if it's better than the alternative.... It's a reflection of the sorry state of the status quo, but there has to be a way. If we could do government payroll well in the 1970s, there has to be a way that we can do it well today.
What are some things you think the government can do right now that it's not doing and that it needs to do in order to, at the very least, mitigate the negative consequences of this fiasco for its workers, with an eye to getting this sorted once and for all, so that Canadian federal workers can depend on a reliable paycheque, according to the terms and conditions agreed to in their letter of offer?