It depends on your interpretation of rabbinic law. In most cases the answer would be no (since you're still causing the effect by your actions), but some frum families used to employ a shabbos goy [0] to light candles, do shopping, cook, etc. Any action is permissible if it was going to happen anyway, but you get into degrees of technicality of the definition of "what was going to happen anyway".

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbos_goy