Vanguard Magazine

8 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com s sIt REP DND staffers burned by Phoenix payroll system A payroll system meant to automate and stream- line government pay administration functions is causing problems for a number of employees at the Department of National Defence. In 2009, the government transitioned to the Phoenix payroll system to replace a payroll sys- tem that had been in place since the 1970s. The Transformation of Pay Administration (TPA) ini- tiative aimed to employ technology that would centralize payroll services to simplify and stan- dardize pay administrative functions. The gov- ernment said it would realize savings amounting to $70 million per year starting 2016-2017 due to cost efficiency. But ever since the switch over there have been numerous complaints about the system, with many government employees saying their sala- ries have been delayed. Now, some DND staffers are reporting that the long-running technical glitches of the Phoenix system are causing problems for them. There have been reports of DND employees not receiving their payroll checks regularly and pub- lic servants getting either less or more than what they are entitled to. For example, Carolyn MacLellan, a kitchen worker at Canadian Forces Camp Aldershot, in Kentville, N.S. told the CBC that due to technical issues with the payroll system, she has not been paid for six week and is owed $2,900 for 190 hours of work. CAE-Draken partnership expands beyond Canada The advanced adversary and aggressor air training program offered by CAE in collabora- tion with tactical support flight company, Drak- en International, previously proposed to the Ca- nadian Air Force will be offered other potential clients around the world. Earlier this year, CAE Defence and Security Canada announced its partnership with Draken and its bid to deliver the Canadian Armed Forces Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS). The CAE and Draken team have proposed a fleet of Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter aircraft to support the CATS program. The fleet has had extensive upgrades and now delivers capa- bilities similar to Canada's CF-18 fighter aircraft they would be training against. CAE and Draken have also proposed a comprehensive research and development program aimed at developing the next-generation live-virtual-constructive (LVC) training capabilities for adversary and aggressor air training services. CAE and Draken signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue global opportunities related to providing advanced adversary and aggressor air training programs to other poten- tial clients "We are pleased to expand our partnership with Draken to focus on next-generation train- ing solutions for the aggressor air training do- main," said Chuck Morant, CAE's vice president of global strategy and business development, defence and security. "There is a growing mar- ket for third-party adversary training, and we believe the integration of virtual and construc- tive capabilities will be critical to providing re- alistic and high-quality training for pilots flying fifth-generation fighters. The combination of Draken's fighter aircraft with CAE's virtual and constructive simulation technologies will cre- ate an integrated and immersive red air train- ing capability." CAE and Draken will explore collaborative de- velopment and pursuit of integrated LVC train- ing in areas such as air combat support, con- tracted adversary and aggressor air training, embedded simulation, tactical training, threat simulation, and joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) training. The two companies anticipate pursuing global opportunities in markets in- cluding the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe; Australia and other parts of Asia/ Pacific; and North America. She said she was not prepared for the situation and is now falling behind on bills because she was "led to believe that it (money) was going to be there and everything was going to be worked out." The CBC has been posting personal stories of people who have been having trouble with the system. Another example is that of a student who working for the DND who has not been paid since January this year. "Each time I contact the Pay Centre (I am able to get through once or twice a week, at most), I am given conflicting instructions and informa- tion every single time, and it seems as though no progress has been made whatsoever to remedy this situation," the student said. "I have contacted Minister Judy Foote's office, but to no avail. Min- ister Foote's office lost my emails three times so far, and whenever I call back, I am told that they have no record of me." Since the story was published, the student has received $1,478 in back pay but is still owed by the government about $9,000. Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter aircra Correction The CSC Dashboard in page 29 of the June/July 2016 issue of the Vanguard, incorrectly referred to Thales France as a shipbuilding company. Thales is a global technology leader for the aero- space, transport, defence and security industries. In Canada, Thales employs 1,800 highly-skilled personnel across the country. Thales is a high tech combat systems integrator that provides combat management systems and sensors to leading navies around the world. Thales has been providing sensors to the RCN for nearly 50 years, and some of the most complex high end sensors such as APAR include key components developed by Thales Canada and other Canadian companies such as Sanmina. Thales' Anti Air Warfare technology forms the basis of two other ship designs, and is the most critical element of the Combat Systems Integration on these ships. Go to VanaguardCanada.com to read Thales Canada - Partnering to deliver "Made-in- Canada" solutions and learn how Canadi- an companies are building the expertise to support the most complex integration solutions.

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