“Are you going to fool me for a long time?” Asks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a former regional director of Service Canada, who is running after his severance pay of nearly $ 20,000 four years after having resigned.
“I’ve run out of patience. I don’t believe them anymore. I’ve had it up to here. They treat me as if I were nothing,” sighs Kareen Joseph of the Vallée-du-Richelieu county, who has worked for the Canadian government for more than 20 years.
Tanned, frustrated, shocked, she would like to know if the Prime Minister of Canada would agree to not receive his “paycheque”.
“It is unacceptable to treat civil servants like this. We have to run after our money. They laugh at me, while I have service to the population tattooed on my heart, ”she denounces.
Successions of errors
It was on April 6, 2019, when she resigned, that Kareen’s life turned into a nightmare.
After leaving a 20-year federal career, she expects to receive her $20,000 in benefits from Service Canada, as scheduled.
At the time, this amount was precious because Kareen needed it to launch her human resources services firm, RH Solutions KJT.
But the amount never arrives.
“It took three years of calls and follow-ups at the compensation center for them to ‘start’ to take care of my file,” she laments.
She points to the failures of the Phoenix pay system and the staff reorganizations under Stephen Harper which have weakened the already wobbly service.
Photo Francis Halin
Kareen Joseph wonders if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would accept not being paid for his work, as is the case for her.
Cherry on the sundae
While she is still waiting for her severance pay of nearly $20,000, she manages to launch her SME despite everything and manages to offer her services to the federal government this time as an HR consultant.
But a second tile then falls on his head.
“I continued to be under contract with the government thereafter, and they invented an overpayment of $10,000 to $15,000!” she says.
“It’s doubly insulting. It is unacceptable,” she said.
And as if that weren’t enough, this cascade of errors has a domino effect on his retirement benefit calculations, which begin to suffer.
“They are withholding amounts from my pension. I also have a good $ 10,000 deduction there, ”she says.
“I have the impression that they put a spoke in my wheels as if they wanted me to stop fighting by magic,” she despairs.
Ottawa does not know how many are affected
How many Quebecers, like Kareen, have pay issues related to Phoenix? The government says it has no idea.
These last months, The newspaper asked Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) how many Quebecers are affected by pay issues related to Phoenix, but after numerous exchanges, the department replied that it did not know.
“However, it is not possible to know which movements are linked to pay problems,” Stéfanie Hamel had indicated to media relations.
When asked about Kareen Joseph’s story, PSPC declined to comment on her case.
“Please note that if an employee disagrees with an overpayment, the letter he received includes the steps to follow to request more information,” said Alexandre Baillairgé-Charbonneau to media relations.
-With the collaboration of Nicolas Brasseur and Guillaume St-Pierre