Thank you so much for the invitation to appear before your committee and help with your important work in reviewing the Auditor General's report on building and implementing Phoenix.
Joining me today is Sandra Hassan from Treasury Board Secretariat, assistant deputy minister of the compensation and labour relations sector.
As Secretary of the Treasury Board, I support the board in its role as the employer of the core public service.
In that capacity, I want to start by saying that the government takes very seriously its responsibility to pay its employees accurately and promptly.
Without question, the pay issues affecting employees and their families are unacceptable, and we are deeply sorry for that. I echo the sentiments expressed by Madam Lemay. We are taking action not only to resolve these issues, but of course to also support those employees who have been affected.
The government has put in place several measures for those affected employees. These measures of course include ensuring that advances are made and paid on a priority basis, providing flexibility in the recovery of overpayments, and establishing effective claims processes to compensate employees for expenses and financial losses occurred because of the unacceptable challenges associated with Phoenix.
In tandem with these support efforts, a huge push is under way, led by Public Services and Procurement Canada, to stabilize the pay system. At the same time—and this of course touches on the key themes raised by the Auditor General last week—we are equally determined to mitigate the risks associated with Phoenix and ensure that we are never confronted by a project failure of this magnitude.
Last year, Treasury Board Secretariat commissioned Goss Gilroy to look at some of the very issues raised by the Auditor General. We see the recommendations of this report, along with those of the Auditor General, as foundational guidance. In its October 2017 response to Goss Gilroy the government said that it is committed to building capacity in such key areas as project management, information and technology management, revamping its approach and policies for project management and procurement, and of course excelling in service delivery for the benefits of Canadians.
On pay transformation specifically, the government has already put in place new interdepartmental governance, both within the senior ranks of the public service and of course through the ministerial working group.
I'll now turn to the Auditor General recommendation for the Treasury Board in this most recent report.
It states that we should, for all information technology projects: carry out independent reviews of the projects' key decisions to proceed or not, and inform the projects' responsible deputy minister and senior executives of the reviews' conclusions.
Without reservation we concur with this vitally important recommendation. We will conduct independent reviews of government-wide projects to identify corrective actions and we will communicate the conclusions and remedial actions required. In the meantime, we are of course strengthening our policies as well as improving governance, changing the role of the chief information officer to further ensure that government-wide IT initiatives are well planned and executed. I echo the sentiments expressed by my colleague moments ago.
Now I will turn to budget 2018 and Phoenix.
In budget 2018, the government made a number of commitments to address the ongoing challenges in the Phoenix pay system. One of these of direct relevance to Treasury Board Secretariat is the provision of $16 million, to be led by Treasury Board Secretariat experts along with our colleagues in public sector unions and technology providers, on a way forward for a new pay system.
In looking at all options, we will have a relentless focus on the user and on a system that links HR actions with pay transactions. This will not happen overnight, nor should it happen overnight, being mindful of the lessons we have learned from Phoenix. We will diligently apply those lessons and ensure that all projects move forward on a constructive, timely, and thoughtful basis.
In closing, let me reiterate that my department, along with senior management throughout the public service, is fully engaged in this file.
Thank you. We look forward to your questions.