Politics Briefing: Where does the money to fix Phoenix go?

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Good morning,

The promise of Phoenix was simple: Why have payroll units in every government department, when instead you could have one central payroll unit that handled everyone? The project, started under the Conservative government and rolled out under the Liberals, was projected to save $70-million a year by paying public servants more "efficiently."

It, uh, didn't quite work out that way.

By this summer, according to an Auditor-General report, public servants had lodged about half a million complaints about being overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all.

And the bill to fix the problem is growing beyond half a billion dollars.

But where is all that money going?

To staff, mostly. Neither the Auditor-General's office or Public Services and Procurement Canada would get much more specific than that, but, according to the audit, nearly 2,000 people were being hired or reassigned to the pay problem. That is quite a bit more than the 1,200 positions eliminated in the search for efficiencies.

Oh, and some of the money has gone to IBM, which developed the system in the first place, so it could provide more tech support.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa and James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

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TODAY'S HEADLINES

A majority of the security personnel on Parliament Hill, including those who carry guns and those who screen visitors coming into the Parliament buildings, are not given thorough background checks to get their jobs. The guards briefly went through the same screening process as RCMP officers in 2015, until unions objected.

As many as 1,100 women have open claims of sexual harassment or discrimination against the RCMP, Global News reports.

Former Liberal senator Pana Merchant is facing a $350,000 bill from the Canada Revenue Agency, CBC reports.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used a speech marking Confederation to go after wealthy Canadians, both on the share of taxes they pay and potential tax evasion. "There are people in Canada who are so wealthy that not only do they think they don't need to pay their fair share of taxes, they're forcing us to spend a billion dollars to go after them just so they'll do the right thing and pay what they owe," he said.

The Liberal government's proposed tax changes to passive income in private corporations would eventually raise up to $6-billion after two decades, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says. The PBO backs up the Liberals, however, in saying very few Canadians would be affected by the change.

The Canadian Press is reporting that University of Moncton President Raymond Théberge will be the Liberals' pick for Official Languages Commissioner. No word yet on the other soon-to-be-vacant watchdog posts, such as the commissioners of lobbying and ethics.

Provincial health ministers are pushing back against a drug company's lobbying efforts to get a costly cystic fibrosis treatment publicly funded. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. wants the provinces to negotiate a deal to fund Orkambi, which costs roughly $250,000 a year. But the federal agency that evaluates new drugs recommended against public funding, saying there isn't enough evidence to show that it works. B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the company is trying to do an end-run around the process.

B.C.'s Attorney-General says the government is considering imposing limits on auto accident payouts as it attempts to control deficits at the province's public insurance company. The New Democrats came to power on a promise to freeze rates at ICBC and overhaul its operations, but the government won't confirm just how it will do that until next year.

And an addendum to yesterday's newsletter: the Parliament Hill skating rink will now be open until the end of February. Lace up!

Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on housing: "The question in B.C. now is, will the new NDP government have the courage to take real action on this front, going as far as banning foreign investors from buying existing homes or preventing developers from offering presales to offshore investors before locals who work and pay taxes in this country get a chance?"

Merran Smith and Jeremy Moorhouse (The Globe and Mail) on clean fuel: "Study after study has reached the same conclusion: for Canada to achieve its 2030 and 2050 climate targets, we must switch to cleaner fuels. But this switch will take time, so we need to start now."

Linda McQuaig (Toronto Star) on Liberal economics: "In addition, however, there's a bigger problem with Morneau's pension legislation: it would allow employers — in federally regulated industries, such as banking, telecommunications, transportation and Crown corporations — to retroactively walk away from pension promises they've made to workers."

Vicky Mochama (Toronto Star) on people immigrating to Canada with disabilities: "While some migrants are better able to fight the battle, the excessive demand provision amounts to discrimination against kids with disabilities. It is unreasonably taxing for parents who already have to navigate a world that is not designed with their children in mind. It is even more so for caregivers whose kids are oceans away."

Don Martin (CTV) on the Parliament Hill skating rink: "For the 99.999 per cent of Canadian taxpayers who will never put a blade to this ice, it's a teeth-grinding waste of tax dollars, adding to a deficit our grandchildren will have to pay."