A new govt payroll system misfires and Canadians ask: where's my pay?

Ottawa, Ontario

THE government of Canada has a credit rating of AAA and a budget of more than US$200 billion. You would think it could meet its payroll.

But for most of this year, getting paid has been an exercise in frustration for more than 80,000 Canadian public servants - not for lack of money, but because of a new payroll system that has repeatedly gone haywire.