Two years after the launch of the Federal Government Phoenix Payroll System, employees continue gambling to see if they will be able to make their payments on time.
The program was intended to streamline and centralize payroll for the federal government to manage, but has since turned into a never-ending nightmare for its employees.
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers local president Jake Suezle explained the hardships and difficulties staff at the Drumheller Institution have endured over the last two years since the program began operations back in February 2016.
“The system hasn’t performed as anticipated,” said Suezle. “It hasn’t been as effective is an understatement. People are bumped off it or added to it at a seemingly random pace. A lot of our pay is done through supplementary pay, shift differentials, overtime and things like that. It appears one of the biggest obstacles the system has to tackle are those factors that are considered in pay that are outside the standard 40 hour week.”
Anyone that gets a promotion or moves to a different position of the correctional facility has a coding change which in turn triggers the payroll system as well. This has caused reluctance to change positions in fear of altering the system.
“The results have been all over the place from receiving no pay to portional pay to incorrect rates and it seems to be a roll of the dice every two weeks as to whether or not you are going to get paid,” said Suezle.
Suezle told The Mail it is understandable to expect issues when a system is first launched but when the problems have spanned over two years it has become a larger problem ‘with no end in sight.’
“That’s where things start to get quite frustrating and discouraging. It’s not a ‘bear with us for a couple weeks’, it’s not a ‘bear with us for a month’, it’s a ‘welcome to a new reality,’” said Suezle.
“I really feel for a lot of the junior officers who come in. They are starting a career. They are looking at vehicles, loans or mortgages and unfortunately a lot of them don’t qualify for these because they can’t produce consistent pay which is one of the points of getting a job with the federal government,” he said.
Battle River-Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson will be hosting an open house in Drumheller at Town Hall upstairs on 224 Center Street, between 10:00 a.m. and noon on Monday, May 14.
He encourages anyone to attend to discuss the current payroll system as well as other topics like high gas prices, immigration, or the new firearms legislation. Sorenson has plans to return later on in the year as he is aware that farmers are now in the fields seeding.
“We will touch on all these kinds of things and then open it up for questions. If people want to meet with me, off to the side for a couple of minutes, we can do that and follow up on it later,” said Sorenson.
A pay centre has been set up by the government to alleviate some of these payroll problems. Emergency salary advances and priority payments are available for anyone missing pay or experiencing hardship as well. Monthly updates to employees through a dashboard and pay bulletin on the Canadian government website have been created to ensure ongoing transparency and accountability.
“It’s hard to really know what they have in mind, but I do know it’s unacceptable and people aren’t getting paid. It is just the worst kind of administrative problem you can expect and if you don’t have a public service that is confident in the system, it causes grief,” said Sorenson.
Suezle attests to Sorenson’s help in dealing with the payroll demise since the beginning.
“He has been the single best asset that we have had throughout this. Our institution management team have been very supportive but their ability to help with this is limited, to say the least. I don’t exactly know what Mr. Sorenson’s resources are with this but suffice to say he has been extremely helpful,” said Suezle.
“We will do everything we can to see some solution here,” said Sorenson.

The Economic Development Task Force has become a real force to reckon with within the Town of Drumheller.
Three months ago, Town Council created this task force to bring intelligent and passionate people together to come up with recommendations to progress the sustainability and resourcefulness of Drumheller.
A steering committee of enthusiastic members of the community was at the helm and then subsequent committees were made afterward to focus on different, but equally important, topics. Almost 50 people volunteered to take on this challenge.
Kim Suntjens, Bob Sheddy, and Ken Schinnour presented a summary to Council on behalf of the steering committee and subcommittees on Monday, May 7.
Subcommittees were split into eight categories: Education, Tourism, Housing, Arts & Culture, Film & Media, Medical/Government, Industry, Manufacturing and Entrepreneurs, and the Drumheller Advantage.
“My time spent on the committee was very rewarding. I was able to work with some amazing people and I have a huge respect for a lot of people I never met before. I can’t believe the enthusiasm and positive attitude of Drumheller now,” said Schinnour.
For education, the committee wants to create an Education Marketing Plan, Customer Service Ambassador Program, International Programs, and a Community Wellness Challenge which is a program that works with the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) and local businesses.
For housing, Schinnour described the committee’s desire to review bylaws to allow smaller footprint housing and for greater density housing throughout the Valley like condos, row houses, and duplexes. Extensive flood mitigation lobbying will continue.
The Arts and Culture Committee wants to revive a festival that would benefit the area. A community calendar would create a comprehensive and consistent standard the community could utilize. A mural festival would address alleys, side buildings, and existing aging signs by inviting artists from around the world to create art while working with business owners. A museum collaboration would explore a possibility of a Museum Collective with promotions like one ticket admission for all.
The Film & Media Committee would like the Town to adopt a film-friendly policy.
The Tourism Committee wants to make a vibrant downtown core with lights and music and change the stigmatized term of ‘tourists’ to ‘visitors’. They have requested a budget and policy for buskers and other entertainment and to promote Drumheller as a place for food truck vendors to do business. They are going to continue working with CN Rail on a trail project. They want Council to create a reserve for maintenance of tourist facilities, and potentially make access to public washrooms in the downtown area.
The Medical and Government Committee wants to become a standing committee to continue lobbying for change. They want to create a welcoming environment for nurses and doctors as a strategic effort. They wish to make an annual awareness campaign to invite physicians and patients to see the specialized services the Drumheller Health Centre has to offer such as the Cancer Care Unit.
They want to lobby for another transport ambulance and hire four more paramedics for the area. Introducing a new revised AHS community standard would ensure efficient ambulance service.
They will continue to address the need for an assisted living complex for the aging population that requires SL4 care. The committee wants to promote the hotels that are willing to offer special hospital rates for patients and families rather than having them go to an urban centre for treatment.
The committee wants to lobby the federal government and pursue the possibility of doubling the size of the penitentiary to bring additional new high paying jobs to the area. A sign will potentially be installed at the end of the road to the Institution with advantages of living in Drumheller.
A business evaluation was conducted and they want to focus on the Drumheller Advantage. They want to create a business package to ensure information on locations, populations, markets, transportation, connectivity, and education will be in one place for interested people to explore.
Advantages include breathtaking scenery, great central location, full health care service, proximity to larger centres such as Calgary and Red Deer, fibre optic networks available in almost all of the community, world-class attractions, small town living like lower housing costs and insurance, great recreational facilities, and educational choices.
They want to create a shepherding committee to assist entrepreneurs with new business startups as well as provide guidance and support to existing businesses. They will review permits and hope to simplify applications.
The Business Committee wishes to attract retail services, agriculture like cannabis and brewery, food processing and packaging, and agriculture manufacturing for example.
They identified many communities that have tax incentives whereas Drumheller does not. They want Drumheller to be competitive in this market.
Each subcommittee recommended a full-time Economic Development Officer (EDO) to support Drumheller to keep momentum for change going.
A grant writer was also suggested. This person would be in charge of marketing and promotions of the Valley as well as oversee the Town’s website and social media.
The committees want to create, maintain, and link a website that has up-to-date information, with a film-friendly tab and a ‘Drumheller Advantage’ tab to promote the Valley on an easy platform for viewers to use.
“Most of these ideas are very attainable and will definitely come into fruition,” said Schinnour.
A detailed summary will be submitted to Council for their review.