Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Ferguson, thank you for joining us again today to talk about chapter zero, or your message.
As you know, this report has made a lot of noise and waves. The officials received it as criticism. They clearly reacted to your message, and public service executives also received it as a criticism. Of course, the public also reacted, given the items in the report.
Because of my perspective, background and experience, I disagree with the evaluation, as I have taken part in developing programs and services and modernizing the legislation, which has enabled many Canadians across Canada to receive quality services from many public servants. Their goal is to serve Canadians well. We could list a number of their accomplishments.
I could name various accomplishments throughout my career at the Translation Bureau and the Department of Justice. We developed an exceptional document imaging service in Matane. I could talk about modernizing financial support programs for farmers. I could talk—as I told you last time—about the modernization process used to modernize the program that allows Canada's retired public servants to receive their pensions. Approximately 684,000 former public servants receive their pensions regularly.
Is everything perfect? Clearly, it's not. There is always room for improvement. Clearly, in your message, you focused on some aspects, including the implementation of Phoenix. It is no secret that it is a failure, clearly. When the Clerk of the Privy Council appeared before the committee, he used the words I used in my discussion with you. He talked about a “perfect storm”. I have called it “the perfect storm” myself. In my opinion, it was caused by the previous government's refusal to accept that the cost of implementing Phoenix went from $150 million, as originally planned, to $300 million.
As the Clerk of the Privy Council said, it would have taken a minister with great courage to go to his colleagues and tell them that, for various reasons, the cost of implementing Phoenix was higher than what had been estimated. That was not done. The officials were probably told sorry, but they had to operate within the budget allocated to them and they would have to deliver on their commitments on time and on budget.
This “perfect storm” also included 40-year-old technology, a massive layoff of payroll experts—in fact, 700 people had to be laid off—and the centralization of operations in Miramichi. A very large number of employees did not have the necessary experience to engage in this sort of centralization at the time. They have done a remarkable job, and continue to do so, with the tools at their disposal. I repeat that, in my opinion, it was a “perfect storm” generated by a budgetary issue. That is at the root of all this.
You said that it was important to ensure that officials and managers were telling the truth to the authorities. I think the officials told the authorities the truth, but the authorities should have listened. In this case, I don't think they listened to them. This is at the heart of the issue before us. I am sure that the authorities at the time told them that they had to carry out the project on time and on budget, and that they had to ensure that they delivered on their commitments.
That said, I agree with what the Clerk of the Privy Council said about the changes. When there are 27 collective agreements and 79 different classifications, and each of those classifications has different pay levels, it is very complex. If we want to ensure the success of Phoenix...
As an aside, we inherited the Phoenix problem. I can assure you that our government is committed to finding solutions to this problem. This is important for public servants. They all deserve to receive the correct pay at the right time. That being said, there are improvements to be made to ensure better pay service, and I think that means simplifying the whole classification process.
I have been talking for a long time, I'm sorry. I have one minute left. I would like to hear your recommendations.
What recommendation would continue to improve services to Canadians? If there was something you would like the government to focus on, what would it be?