“Any company that treats its employees like this would quickly go bankrupt,” he denounces Newspaper Retired Defense Minister Gaétan Thibault is on the hunt for his $118,000 check owed to him by the federal government, despite his 35 years of loyal service.
“It changes pension calculations. It delays paying the mortgage and buying a new car, which would have given me a better start to retirement instead of tightening my belt in the first two years,” explains Gaétan Thibault, 67 years old, retired from National Defense .
Six months ago, Le Journal told the story of a former Service Canada executive who was unable to receive her $20,000 severance package four years after resigning.
After reading this article, Gaétan Thibault contacted Le Journal and informed him that the failures of the Phénix payment system launched in 2016 had left him with even more money.
“I am entitled to a total of $118,000 for my vacation pay and my severance pay,” sighs the man from Capitale Nationale.
Two weights, two measurements
What shocks the defense pensioner is that Ottawa doesn’t hesitate to go after employees when they owe small amounts, while the opposite is less true.
“When I was a manager, I had employees who were forced to take loans from the bank to repay Phénix, while we don’t see the color when they are the ones who owe us money,” supports Gaétan Thibault.
Gaétan Thibault believes the Canadian government has a duty to pay its own employees. Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
He tells the Journal it’s always the same story. He appeals to the government. The employees are nice, but can’t do anything to improve the situation.
“When Phénix was implemented, we laid off all payroll employees who could have optimized the system to solve the problem. It was returned to Miramichi. “It’s a big black box,” he denounces.
He points out that as a manager, he no longer noticed how often his colleagues who had just been promoted had to chase their extra money because Phénix systematically made errors on their pay slips.
“Phoenix is a big black box for me,” he says.
No idea how many Quebecers are affected
In response to a question from Le Journal, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) could not say how many Quebecers are still affected by these recurring wage issues, as their system is simply unable to provide this “level of detail.”
SPAC also refused to comment on the specific case of Gaétan Thibault.
In late October, the Public Service Alliance of Canada filed a complaint denouncing “the federal government’s unilateral recovery of Phoenix overpayments” for its Treasury Board members or those working at the Canadian Inspection Agency Food or Parks Canada.
-In collaboration with Nicolas Brasseur
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