Thank you very much for inviting me here today to discuss the Auditor General's report on building and implementing Phoenix. This is an important dialogue, and I want to emphasize that I personally welcome it and look forward to being of assistance to this committee and to other parliamentary committees. I am pleased to be here with Sandra Hassan, who is the assistant deputy minister of compensation and labour relations for Treasury Board Secretariat.
As you know, the Treasury Board is the employer of the core public service. As its secretary, I support the board in that role.
As such, I want to begin by stating that the government is resolutely focused on meeting its responsibility to pay its employees accurately and on time.
We are sorry that employees are experiencing pay issues that affect their lives and those of their families, and we take that, obviously, extremely seriously. That is why we are working diligently and will continue to do so to resolve these pay issues and to also help those employees who have been adversely affected. For example, we are making sure that advances are made and paid on a priority basis. We have also provided flexibility in the recovery of overpayments, and we have set up claims processes to compensate employees for expenses or financial losses because of Phoenix. These measures are aimed at mitigation and undoing some of the damages that have been done. Obviously, we're also working closely with Madam Lemay and PSPC, which are leading the enormous effort to stabilize the pay system.
That does lead me to the AG's recent report and his concerns that Phoenix may not be the last “incomprehensible failure” in project management. We are obviously deeply concerned by that finding, take that enormously seriously, and are determined to learn the lessons associated with that and ensure that we mitigate future risks and deal with these issues. IT projects are always risky. In a way, that helps our position going forward.
In 2017, Treasury Board Secretariat did commission the Goss Gilroy report to examine some of the very issues raised by the Auditor General. The report outlines a series of valuable lessons that we are now applying to government projects. That report, along with the Auditor General's recommendations, form foundational guidance for how government will manage projects in the future. That is an ongoing lesson, and something we are committed to do.
I would like now to turn briefly to the recommendation for the Treasury Board Secretariat in this most recent Auditor General's report.
The recommendation states that TBS should, for all government-wide 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.
We agree, of course, with this recommendation, and we will conduct independent reviews of government-wide projects, as Treasury Board, to identify and implement any required corrective actions. We will communicate the conclusions and remedial actions required, and we will, of course, follow up on those.
In the interim we are changing the role of the chief information officer to further ensure that government-wide IT initiatives are well planned and that we stay on top of the execution of those initiatives. We are also strengthening our policies and improving governance.
I would now like to update you on the progress we have made on the Auditor General's two recommendations from his fall report.
The first is that the secretariat, along with our colleagues in PSPC, establish timelines for departments and agencies to submit accurate pay information, and that we support our colleagues in PSPC and departments and agencies in the development of performance measures to track and report on the accuracy and timeliness of pay. I can report that the secretariat, in collaboration with PSPC, is making good progress. We will provide the information to this committee as soon as possible.
The second recommendation was that the secretariat, with the support of PSPC, along with departments and agencies, track and report back on the cost of resolving pay problems and implementing a sustainable solution. The office of the comptroller general has been working diligently on a government-wide cost estimate covering historical costs, the projected investments needed to stabilize the Phoenix system, and of course, the operating costs. The model is in place. We are undertaking the runs of that model. It is nearly done, but we are also making sure that the information is verified with our colleagues in PSPC.
The report has not yet been finalized, and I apologize for the delay in releasing the report. We expect to have it done shortly. It's important, however, in learning lessons from Phoenix, that we get this accurate and we are prioritizing accuracy over timeliness in this regard. Of course, we will be sharing it with the committee as soon as we possibly can.
I would now like to draw your attention to one of the Budget 2018 commitments to address the ongoing challenges with Phoenix.
The budget provided $16 million for TBS to work with experts, public sector unions, and technology providers on a way forward for a new pay system.
As we explore various options, we will have relentless focus on the user and a system that links HR transactions with pay transactions.
As much as we would like this to happen overnight or as quickly as possible, the reality is that we will need to take some time to get this right. That's an absolutely critical lesson. That means thoroughly applying all of the lessons, governance structures, and other approaches that we have learned through the very difficult lessons of Phoenix to this work going forward.
In conclusion, I would like to restate that my department, along with the senior management team, remain fully engaged on this file and we welcome and appreciate the dialogue with the Auditor General and with parliamentarians on this vitally important issue.
Thank you.