Opposition parties want committee recalled to probe Phoenix pay ‘debacle’

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA – The federal opposition parties have joined forces to call for emergency hearings into the government’s faltering new pay system.

Both the Conservatives and New Democrats want the government operations committee recalled to talk about how the so-called Phoenix system has left tens of thousands of civil servants improperly paid or not paid at all.

But even though a Conservative MP heads the committee, the opposition parties are one member shy of forcing a meeting without the help of the Liberals.

House of Commons rules require at least four members to sign off on a formal written request for a meeting, and the committee has three opposition members, not including Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski, who sits as its chairman.

Lukiwski says the Commons clerk has yet to receive a request, let alone one with four signatories.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week that the clerk of the Privy Council, which advises him and his cabinet on government operations, was heading up efforts to fix the dysfunctional pay system.

The government revealed last week that more than 80,000 civil servants have been affected by problems with the system.

That includes 720 government employees who haven’t received paycheques at all, in some cases for months, forcing many to borrow money or max out credit cards to pay their bills.

The government has promised nearly 500 of those employees that they would receive paycheques by this Wednesday, but that fixing the pay problems for the others could take months.

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