Download or read book Defending a Contested Ideal written by Luc Juillet and published by University of Ottawa Press. This book was released on 2008-09-13 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.