Defending a Contested Ideal : Merit and the Public Service Commission, 1908–2008 / / Luc Juillet and Ken Rasmussen.

• Author: Juillet, Luc, 1969-; Luc Juillet
• Place / Publishing House: Ottawa : : University of Ottawa Press,, 2008; ©2008
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: Governance series.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xii, 248 pages)
• Notes: Issued also in French under title: À la défense d'un idéal contesté.

In 1908, after decades of struggling with a public administration undermined by systemic patronage, the Canadian parliament decided that public servants would be selected on the basis of merit, through a system administered by an independent agency: the Public Service Commission of Canada. This history, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Commission, recounts its unique contribution to the development of an independent public service, which has become a pillar of Canadian parliamentary democracy.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Democratic Government, Merit and the Public Service Commission of Canada -- Ch. 1. Origins of the Public Service Commission: 1867-1918 -- Ch. 2. Creating a Merit System: 1918-1944 -- Ch. 3. Rethinking the CSC: Gordon, Heeney and Glassco: 1945-1967 -- Ch. 4. Management Assault on the Public Service Commission: 1967-1979 -- Ch. 5. Struggling to Defend Political Neutrality: 1979-2006 -- Ch. 6. PSC as a Cautious Reformer: Staffing Reforms during the Mulroney Years: 1984-1993 -- Ch. 7. Merit as the Essential Mandate: Repositioning the PSC: 1993-2008.