Phoenix pay project: Risks unheeded, journey without end

The warning signs were there all along, but perhaps none was as clear as this.
On Jan. 13, 2016 — barely two months into the new Liberal government of Justin Trudeau — Treasury Board officials prepared a concise memo for their boss and comptroller general, Bill Matthews.
The note, obtained under access-to-information laws, was headlined “readiness assessment of Phoenix” in reference to a pay system that was scheduled to launch in a matter of weeks.
It had been a massive u