Actually, the Bar is Much Higher for Elected Officials

Some media reports today are quoting a former Mountie and CSIS agent as telling a parliamentary committee that the government has a "double standard" with regards to the security screenings for Ministers. Some Opposition MPs have also complained that bureaucrats have to go through much more rigorous security screenings.

I disagree with the argument that Ministers are given an easier screening, since they face the electorate first, which bureaucrats and civil servants do not. Instead, they are appointed and hired (often staying in their jobs for years and decades) with no public scrutiny into their suitability or merit for the position. Instead the public is forced to just trust other bureaucrats that these people are fit for their positions.

Maxime Bernier was elected by the people of Beauce. He passed the most stringent examination possible already.