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With an average of 14 bureaucrats for every 1,000 citizens, New Brunswick is seriously overgoverned. This province has the second-largest bureaucracy in the nation, yet it delivers public services that rank in middle of the pack, at best. At worst, the failure of the provincial civil service can be downright dangerous.

Consider the example of Andre Joseph Lemieux.

Lemieux recently pleaded guilty to two counts of failing a breathalyser and a third charge of driving while prohibited. He had been stopped by police on Sept. 27 while driving the wrong way up a one-way street, and again on Oct. 3 for making a turn in the wrong direction into the wrong lane. On the first occasion, he had a breathalyser reading of 130 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood; the second time he was stopped, the breathalyser read 120 milligrams of alcohol.

The legal limit is 80 mg. Lemieux was dangerously incapacitated, driving recklessly, and posed a threat to the public. The provincial civil service played a key role in putting him behind the wheel.

You see, Andre Lemieux has been convicted of drunk driving before - twice - and there are warrants for his arrest in two provinces for failing to appear in court to face similar charges. He is prohibited from driving - but none of these facts prevented him from obtaining a New Brunswick driver's licence.

According to the Department of Public Safety, there is a procedure in place to prevent people who have been banned in other provinces from obtaining a driver's license here. In theory, officials at Service New Brunswick should be alerted on the spot to any convictions against a would-be driver's record.

The Lemieux case suggests the system doesn't work.

Anyone who wants to obtain a driver's licence must sign an application form, attesting that he or she is not a suspended or prohibited driver. So what, exactly, do civil servants do to test the truth of these sworn statements? A simple background check, of the kind performed by police and RCMP officers every day, would have turned up Mr. Lemieux's impaired driving convictions and his outstanding warrants.

New Brunswickers expect officials to apply a high degree of scrutiny to someone who applies to own a firearm. An automobile in the hands of a repeated drunk driver is no less dangerous than a gun in the hands of a convicted violent criminal. The screening procedures should be similar.

This is a case where the bar of public service needs to be raised. And it's a reminder that a big civil service and standard procedures are no substitute for effective governance.

Being on the public payroll doesn't make one a public servant. Service does - and New Brunswickers are entitled to better value for their taxes.