conferred more authority toward the popularly-elected Assembly to oversee appointments to the civil services, successive governments continued the practice of drawing appointees to non-political (civil) positions. Unlike the American spoils system, political appointees did not typically resign when a new government was sworn in, which created friction between Cabinet and civil servants as governments changed. To address the persistence of patronage appointments, Parliament enacted legislation in 1857 to establish a Board of Examiners for the Civil Service. The role of the board would be to examine "candidates for employment in the Civil Service" and "to grant certificates of qualification to those found to possess the moral character and fitness required for service". Post-Confederation civil service reforms (1867-1908) Following Canadian Confederation, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's government sought to improve the quality and rigor of appointments with the passage of the Canada Civil Service Act in 1868. The legislation established a Civil Service Board with limited jurisdictions over civil service examinations, certification, and promotional investigations for civil servants located in Ottawa. Despite its intentions, the legislation failed to completely abolish political patronage in appointments. In 1869, the Royal Commission to Enquire into the Present State and Probable Requirements of the Civil Service was established, publishing three reports which called on the government to organize the civil service into departments, introduce a single job classification system, and require candidates to pass an entrance examination. An additional commission, convened in 1880, resulted in the Civil Service Act, which formalized an examination process overseen by a three-member Board of Civil Service Examiners. This newly-created board tested candidates on their academic knowledge, with successful candidates proceeding to a selection examination. Eliminating patronage in the civil service (1908-1918) In 1908, the intensity of scandals and inefficiencies associated with the civil service prompted Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's government to enact the Civil Service Amendment Act, which embodied a significant step toward an independent, politically neutral, and professional civil service. The CSAA created the Civil Service Commission (CSC), a body consisting of two commissioners appointed for an indefinite period, and tasked with enforcing a merit-based appointment process for civil service positions in and around Ottawa. The onset of World War I brought about a significant growth in the population of the civil service to support Canada's war effort. At the same time, this period brought about a resurgence of patronage appointments. Prime Minister Robert Borden's government made eliminating