Merit 2.0: Implications of the 2003 Public Service Employment Act on Merit as an Organizing Principle in the Federal Public Service

Authors

  • Brett W. Taylor

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5931/djim.v10i1.3335

Keywords:

Merit, Public Service, Human Resources

Abstract

This paper investigates the first ever statutory definition of merit in the 2003 Public Service Employment Act. The assertion of the paper is that although it has yet to materialize, the statutory definition has created an opportunity to water down the merit system and compromise the integrity of meritorious appointments. To provide background for the evaluation and contextualize the 2003 change a brief history of the merit system as operationalized in Canada‘s Public Service and a discussion of competing conceptualizations of merit is included. 

Author Biography

Brett W. Taylor

Brett W. Taylor is pursuing a combined Master of Public Administration and Law (JD-MPA) degree at Dalhousie University. Prior to this he earned a BA and MA in history at McMaster University. His article on the public service employment act was originally written for a first year human resources course in the MPA program. Though he grew up in Beamsville Ontario, Brett also lived in Hamilton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vienna before settling outside of Halifax in beautiful Shad Bay. 

References

Aucoin, P. & Goodyear-Grant, E. (2002). Designing a merit-based process for appointing boards of ABCs: Lessons from the Nova Scotia reform experience. Canadian Public Administration 45(3), 301-327.

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Canada. (2003). Public Service Employment Act, S.C. 2003, c. 22, ss. 12, 13. Retrieved from http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/P-33.01.pdf

Hodgetts, J.E., McCloskey, W., Whitaker, R., & Wilson, V. (1972). The biography of an institution: The civil service commission of Canada, 1908-1967. Montreal and London: McGill-Queen's University Press.

Juillet, L. (2011). The public service commission and the implementation of the Public Service Employment Act (2003). Ottawa: Public Service Commission of Canada. Retrieved from http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/abt-aps/rprt/juillet/docs/juillet-eng.pdf

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Kernaghan, K.. (2008). A literature review on the evolution of the concept of merit in public service: Canadian and comparative perspectives. Ottawa, ON: Public Service Commission of Canada. Retrieved from http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/abt-aps/rprt/lrecmps-rlecmfp/index-eng.htm

Kernaghan, K. (2011). Getting engaged: Public-service merit and motivation revisited. Canadian Public Administration, 54(14), 1-21.

Love, J.D. (1988). The merit principle in the provincial governments of Atlantic Canada. Canadian Public Administration, 31(1), 335-351.

Mazankowski, D., Tellier, P., Lacroix, R., Landry, A., D‘Alessandro, D., Stymiest, B., Wilson, L. (2007). Report to the Prime Minister, March 2007. Ottawa, ON: Treasury Board Secretariat. Retrieved from http://www.tbs-http://www.tbs- sct.gc.ca/ren/cpmc/cpmc1-eng.asp

Treasury Board of Canada. (1995). The managers' deskbook, 4th ed. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Supply and Services.

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Published

2014-04-03

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Articles

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