Ottawa-region NDP candidates Emilie Taman (right), Morgan Gay (left) and Angella MacEwan (centre), speak about the ongoing Phoenix Pay Fiasco in Ottawa Tuesday. Photo taken by iPolitics reporter Rachel Emmanuel

Ottawa-region NDP candidates say employees affected by the Phoenix pay system fiasco are passing up on career opportunities out of fear that their pay will not be adequately adjusted if they take a new posting.

Speaking at major federal employment centre Tunney’s Pasture in Ottawa on Tuesday, NDP candidates Morgan Gay, Angella MacEwen, and Emilie Taman urged the federal government to take action to help those affected by problems with the Phoenix pay system. Specifically, the trio requested that the government return compensation agents into affected departments, so employees can have face-to-face interactions “with someone who cares about their pay.”

Taman, who is running in Ottawa Centre, said compensation agents are needed because the system could take five-to-10 years to be fixed.

“This would not be tolerated in the private sector,” she said.

Last year, iPolitics reported that issues with the pay system affected over half of the country’s 300,000 federal public servants, and was estimated to take around five years to fix, costing the government up to $3.5 billion.

Gay, the party’s candidate in Ottawa South, said that though the problems began during the former Conservative government, the current Liberal government has not done enough to resolve these issues and compensate people for damages.

“The Liberals have not treated this crisis for what it is — a crises,” Gay said.

MacEwan, who’s running in Ottawa West-Nepean, said she’s been speaking to affected employees who don’t know when the problems are going to be solved. In an opinion piece published in the Ottawa Citizen Tuesday morning, MacEwan said an NDP government would replace the Phoenix system, and consult with the federal public service unions to develop a replacement that works for Canada’s public servants.

Guy Gallant, a spokesperson for the Liberal Party, said a re-elected Liberal government will move forward with implementing a new pay system to meet the needs of Canada’s public service. He also said the government would move forward with eliminating the backlog of outstanding pay issues so that public servants can focus on their work and not on resolving long-standing payroll problems.

“Canada’s professional public service is one of the best in the world and works hard to deliver the programs and services people rely on,” Gallant said in an email.

Speaking in Toronto on Tuesday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh spoke about his package deal for young people, which includes plans for universal drug coverage, dental coverage, access to affordable housing, relief from student debt and plans to fight the climate change.

According to a press release from the party, the plan will save young people 1,200 a year on cell phone fees, student debt, dentacare and pharmacare, and up to $5,000 a year on rent.

“Access to education should never depend on how much money your parents make or how much debt you can carry,” Singh said in the release. “We’re in it for you, and we’re ready to make big changes to deliver a better future for young people in every part of Canada.”

Voters head to the polls on Oct. 21.

-This article has been updated to include a comment from the Liberal Party.