Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Union says Ontario welfare software riddled with 'design flaws'

TORONTO -- A new computer system tasked with administering social assistance in Ontario is creating "chaos" as staff waste valuable time trying to get it to work rather than helping their clients, the union representing welfare caseworkers says.

Carrie Poole-Cotnam with the Canadian Union of Public Employees said the revelation a bug in the software erroneously queued up $20 million in overpayments to welfare and disability recipients earlier this week was merely the tip of the iceberg.

The $240-million Social Assistance Management System is riddled with "design flaws" that see workers jumping through hoops just to do basic tasks -- such as adding a new child to a welfare case, a move which now takes "over 100 steps" from six before, she said Sunday.

Where do you even begin to address this issue for its ineptness and incompetence?

"Here we have a government that is so arrogant that they're not even prepared to apologize for this mistake, nor can they guarantee that it's not going to happen again," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

First, imagine winning the $50M jackpot. Untold wealth, right? Well, the $240 million the hot shots at Queen's Park sqaundered on this computer system is nearly 5-times that amount. FIVE TIMES $50M! That's 2,400 Rolls Royces sitting your driveway, 240 million-dollar homes at your disposal, 2,400 hundred charities you could gift with $100,000 apiece, etc. AND ITS YOUR MONEY! Can you dig it?



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