of 20,000 positions, and 1995, which saw the elimination of 45,000 permanent positions over the next three years. The latter, which was a result of an austerity-focused budget under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's government, represented one of the most drastic reductions to the public service. Modernization of staffing processes (2003-2015) In 2003, the Public Service Modernization Act was passed by the Chrétien government, becoming the first of several pieces of legislation to update the staffing and personnel management practices of the public service. This Act would fundamentally change how public servants were hired and managed. Complementary legislation, in the form of an updated Public Service Employment Act came in 2005. The new PSEA notably introduced a new definition of 'merit', pivoting away from a rules-based determination of 'best qualified', and enabling managers to hire employees on the basis of 'best fit' within their organization. Furthermore, the legislation transferred authority over recruitment from the Public Service Commission over the deputy heads of individual departments and agencies. Beginning in 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government began plans to modernize and consolidate the federal government's aging pay system. In 2011, it eventually awarded a contract to IBM to develop the Phoenix Pay System, which would become the locus of controversy in later years due to errors in disbursing paychecks to federal employees. In 2012, the federal budget by the Harper government sought to reduce the number of public service positions by around 19,000 over the next three fiscal years until 2015-16. Beginning in 2014, the Privy Council Office, Treasury Board, and other departments launched a new renewal initiative, Destination 2020, which focused on a five-pronged plan to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the public service by 2020, focusing on the adoption of innovative practices, process renewal, the deployment of new technology, and promoting the values of the public service. Contemporary developments (2015-present) In January 2016, the Phoenix pay system began to be rolled out across the federal government, and ran into significant performance issues, leading to thousands of public servants being overpaid, underpaid, or not paid at all over the course of several months. This would prompt Public Services and Procurement Canada to rapidly launch dedicated telephone lines beginning in the summer of 2016 to assist public servants who were affected by issues brought on by the pay system. Even by early 2020, many public servants continued to encounter pay issues, with an