The faces of Phoenix: Childbirth, a broken pay system and 'a magical unicorn'

A week prior to the second anniversary of the Phoenix pay system’s 2016 rollout, a foil balloon in the shape of a “2” hung in the dining room of Meredith Phillips’ Ottawa home.
It was not there as some rueful joke, but rather in celebration of the second birthday of Phillips’ daughter, Agnes, who was born, prematurely, on Feb. 8, 2016.
That Agnes arrived early may have been something of a godsend, as Phillips was already on maternity leave when Phoenix was unleashed