The federal Phoenix Pay System failure has cost taxpayers $3.5 billion and counting, the highest figure disclosed to date. The expense was reported to the Commons government operations committee.

“In terms of the overall cost, I think the estimates are still underway,” testified Arianne Reza, deputy public works minister. “You have seen the numbers we spent.”

“Last we heard it was $2.3 billion,” said New Democrat MP Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni, B.C.). “This is eight years in. Liberals have carried forward with this outsourcing privatization scheme.”

“How much has it cost us to date?” asked MP Johns. “The total investment in Phoenix to da