Canada. Royal Commission on Civil Service (1907) : The Commission to Inquire Into and Report on the Operation of the Existing Civil Service Act and Relating Legislation with View to Proposing Such Changes as may be Deemed Advisable was established under Order in Council P.C. 1108, 8 May 1907, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1906, c.104) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance. and on the recommendation of the prime minister. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report on the operation of the Civil Service Act and kindred legislation with a view to proposing such changes as may be advisable in the best interests of efficiency in the public service; that such inquiry should include the following subjects: (1) general operation of the Civil Service Act; (2) classification of the Service; (3) salaries; (4) temporary employment; (5) technical employees; (6) promotions; (7) discipline, hours of service, etc.; (8) efficiency and sufficiency of the departmental staffs; (9) retiring allowances; and (10) any other matter relative to the Service which in the opinion of the Commissioners requires consideration. That while the Service at Ottawa should be the first subject for the consideration of the Commissioners, they be authorized, if time permits, to extend their inquiry to any portion of the Outside Service that may come under their observation. The original Commissioners were: John Mortimer Courtney, Chairman; Thomas Fyshe and John George Garneau. Garneau resigned, and was replaced by Phillipe J. Bazin. (Order in Council P.C. 1122, dated 9 May 1907). The secretary was Thomas S. Howe.
Almost from the time of Confederation, there had been a call for the elimination of patronage in appointments to the civil service. Up to the year 1907, the Government of Canada appointed three public inquiries on the civil service, in 1868, 1880 and 1891 respectively; and a Select Committee of the House of Commons, in 1877. All had dealt to some degree with the unfairness of the patronage system. Over the years, numerous articles attacking the use of patronage in appointments to the civil service appeared and some leading politicians and public men of the day expressed disapproval of it. Influenced to some degree by civil service reform in Great Britain, reformers in Canada generally thought that the selection and promotion of civil servants should be based on merit through the use of competitive examinations.
As late as 1907-1908, evidence presented to yet another Royal Commission on the civil service proved beyond a doubt that: "political patronage was still the dominant influence throughout the public service, and that the Act of 1882 (An Act Respecting the Civil Service of Canada, 45 Vict., c.4) had done little to curb it. Party connection was just as important a qualification for office as before. Promotions were still affected by it, as were salaries, dismissals, discipline, and purchases of supplies."
The most common form of patronage was political nomination by which persons were appointed to positions in the civil service on the basis of party service. Another variant of it was the "spoils system" by which wholesale dismissals from the civil service followed every change of government.
On 2 March 1907, John M. Courtney, who later served as Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service of 1907-1908, addressed the Canadian Club in Ottawa. In his address, he called not only for the elimination of patronage in the civil service but also for better remuneration for civil servants, the reinstitution of superannuation benefits, the establishment of an independent commission to oversee appointments, and the inauguration of a system whereby appointments would be based on competitive examinations with definite probation periods for successful candidates.
According to R.M. Dawson, a leading authority on this subject, reform in the civil service was long overdue:
"The condition of the civil service from 1882 to 1908 was therefore one of stagnation, or, if there was any movement, it was in the wrong direction. The entrance examinations continued to be given with very little change, and the successful candidates, according to an official report, were probably of poorer quality in 1908 that in 1882. The promotion examinations, as the reports of the Board showed, had lost what little virtue they had had through the hostility of the Ministry. The reduction in their number, combined with the rule allowing one test to do duty for two or three promotions, had made this part of the Act of 1882 practically inoperative and almost entirely useless. The Board of Examiners fought conscientiously for their scanty privileges, and the only reason they were not annihilated was that their battle was scarcely worthy fighting at all. Patronage merely smiled at their activity and continued its work almost oblivious of their presence."
On 25 April 1907, the Minister of Finance, W.S. Fielding, stated in the House of Commons that the Government of Canada intended to appoint a Royal Commission on the Civil Service. He made it clear that the inquiry would concern itself primarily with the Inside Civil Service (that part of the civil service located in Ottawa). More significantly, he did not anticipate that the government would make "any very radical changes in Civil Service law." When the Order in Council authorizing the appointment of the Royal Commision was drawn up, on 8 May 1907, it reinterated that "the general principles of the Civil Service Act are regarded as satisfactory". Evidence presented to the Royal Commission proved otherwise, as the Commissioners recommended a repeal of the legislation. (See R.M. Dawson, The Civil Service of Canada, (London: Oxford University Press, 1929), pp. 19-89; J.E. Hodgetts, W. McCloskey, R. Whitaker and V.S. Wilson, The Biography of an Institution, the Civil Service Commission of Canada, 1908-1967, (Montreal and London: McGill-Queens University Press, 1972), pp. 3-43; The Canadian Annual Review, 1907, pp. 424-425 and House of Commons, Debates, 25 April 1907, pp. 7793-7799).
Hearings of the commission were held in Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto from 15 May to 20 November 1907. RG33-77 General Inventory
