Dear Members,

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with the National Capital Region Liberal Caucus. I was grateful for the warm reception I received and know that many of the Members of Parliament rearranged their schedules to be able to attend. I used this opportunity to raise PIPSC’s continued concerns with the disastrous Phoenix pay system.

As many are aware, Budget 2018 pledged $16 million to explore the building of a new pay system to replace Phoenix. This was good news and offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise terrible two years.  My concern now is about recent reports that the system could take 6 years to build.  I shared with the MPs that 6 years was much too long to wait and meant 8 years of pain under the current flawed system.  I reiterated that we don’t have the luxury of time when it comes to Phoenix, as public service employees are suffering. 

I encouraged them to pressure their government to act quickly and to explore all possible solutions.  I pointed them to a potential alternative at the Canada Revenue Agency that our own AFS group is pushing to be explored. Let’s make sure we are looking to our own homegrown solutions and our own IT community. Let’s also make sure we work as quickly as we can to ensure our members are paid correctly on time – all the time.

Better Together!

Debi Daviau
President