IBM wins $32M Ontario government contract despite delivering problem-riddled software

Despite 18months of problems associated with thesoftware responsible for trackingOntarianson social assistance, the Ontario government hasawarded a two-year $32-million IT contract aimed at servicing the software to the same company that created it.

The union representing workers using SAMS short for"social assistance management system" is not happy that the contract has been awarded to IBM.

• Cost of problem-plagued computer that administers welfare soars to $294 million
• Social assistance software a headache for Ottawa city staff, clients

"It should be fixed under warranty," said Smokey Thomas, the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which representscaseworkers who deliver services to social assistance recipients across the province.

It should be fixed under warranty.- Smokey Thomas, OPSEU president

"So they hire IBM, and pay them even more money to fix the problems that they created with the system they sold."

The government of Ontario implemented the new technology platformon Nov. 11, 2014, across the province.

It manages case files, including benefit payments for thousands ofrecipients of Ontario Disability Support Programs and Ontario Works across the province.

The original tab for the problem-plagued computer systemdeveloped by IBM was $242 million, but it has continued togrowas problems have arisenwith overpayments and underpaymentssent to clients.

By October 2015its cost hadsoared to $294 million.

Latest contract 'routine'

The latest IT contract to IBM is "routine," according to aspokesman for the Ministry of Community and Social Services who asked not to be identified.

"We have now fixed 100 per cent of the priority issues identified by our front-line staff working group," the spokesman said in anemailto CBC News.

Nevertheless, Thomas said, the contract is designed to "fixa flawed system."

"I would invite the minister to tour a SAMS workplace with me," Thomas said.

"All evidence we have gathered proves the system is still a mess."

Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton all waiting forSAMScompensation

OPSEU is not alone in voicing ongoing concern over SAMS.

Municipalities responsible for managing the province's social assistance programacross Ontario continue to log problems with SAMSand are reaching out to the province for millions to offset costs.

The City of Ottawa, for example, sent a request for the province last week to pay for a regional training centre and has asked for a total of $1.2 million in additional funding since 2015, said Aaron Burry, general manager of community and social services.

It has receivedabout a third of that funding request, Burry said.

Toronto city council, meanwhile,voted unanimously earlier this year to press the province to provide funding to offset SAMS costsfor 2015 and 2016 costs that are currently estimated at $7.25 million annually.

The City of Hamilton has also been vocal about ongoing costs amounting to more than$800,000to deal with the software including half a million dollars for the re-allocation of staff, according to Coun.Sam Merulla.

I'm disillusioned.- Sam Merulla, Hamilton city councillor

In an email, Merulla said he was "disillusioned" that the province has not offered any compensation for Hamilton's SAMS woes.

Recipients still experiencingproblems withSAMS

Meanwhile, the problems continue to affect people who receive social assistance,likeOttawa residentLaurenSeward-Munday.

Seward-Mundayand her family receivedan overpayment a few months ago that is still wreaking havoc on their lives, she told CBC News.

BecauseSeward-Mundayworkssometimes, her social assistancechequesfluctuate and that causedher to missan overpayment of a few hundreddollars, she said, until aletter came demanding she payit back.

Her caseworker was unsurprised by the error, she said.

"He said, 'Ohyeah,that'sSAMS," Seward-Munday said.

She was able to arrange an installmentplan to pay back the money, but at $50 a month the equivalent of a week's worth of groceries it will take another several months to rectify the error, she said.

"We're going to have a lot of rice, I'll put it thatway," said Seward-Munday. "But [at least]I work. There arepeoplethat this would cause them to lose theirhome."

OPSEU is expecting its own independent report tracking continuing problems with SAMS, nowbeing undertaken by Prof. Wayne Lewchuk, of the School of Labour Studies and Department of Economics at Hamilton's McMaster University.

Lewchuk will be visiting job sites next month, but CBC News got a sneak peek at the results of a survey undertaken in February and March which suggest 95 per cent of caseworkers reported that they feltthe software change made the job harder.

Approximately one-quarter of caseworkers took part in the survey.

$32M contract awarded April 1

SAMScame in almost three years behind schedule, riddled with errors and grosslyoverbudget, according to the Ontario auditor general in her report inlate 2015.

The province tendered the $32.2-millionIT contract earlier this year, awarding it April 1to IBM, the company that boughtCuram, the software behindSAMS.

According to theMinistry of Community and Social Services,the$32.2 million is aimed at "assisting the ongoing operations" ofSAMS and will be spent over two years. The dollar valuerepresentsa cap, not necessarily the final cost, the ministry said.

The contract should cost "$5 million less than it cost to maintainSAMS' predecessor, SDMT," the ministry said in its statement.

"We used an open, fair, competitive process for this contract, working with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to ensure all rules were followed," said the ministry.