Vice-Admiral to make first court appearance
OTTAWA • Vice-Admiral Mark Norman will be in an Ottawa court Tuesday morning for his first appearance after being charged with one count of breach of trust.
Norman was charged last month the RCMP in relation to the alleged leak of information about a Liberal government plan to derail a project to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with a new supply ship.
The charge came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau predicted on two different occasions in the last year that Norman would end up in court, prompting concerns about political interference in the legal system.
Norman has denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement at the time he was charged, Norman’s lawyer Marie Henein said the officer’s faith in Canada and the legal system remains unshaken. “We will address this allegation with the very same commitment and strength that Vice-Admiral Norman has displayed throughout his distinguished career,” she stated. “We will respond to this allegation in a courtroom where evidence, objectivity and fairness matter and where politics have absolutely no place.”
The RCMP alleges Norman tipped off Davie shipyards that the Liberal government was going to delay a key navy program involving the Quebec firm converting a commercial ship, the Asterix, into a supply vessel.
Details about the Liberal decision to put the supply ship project on hold leaked to the news media and the resulting embarrassment forced the government to back down on its plans. Furious about the leak, the Liberal government called in the RCMP.
The case against Norman centres around a Nov. 19, 2015 meeting by Liberal cabinet ministers who decided to delay the Davie supply project after they received a letter from the firm’s east coast rival, Irving Shipbuilding. Irving, closely linked to the Trudeau government, has denied allegations it was involved in any political meddling to undercut a rival shipyard.
Norman wasn’t at the cabinet meeting but searches of electronic devices and computers at Davie showed he had exchanged emails with one company official.
Norman has denied any wrongdoing. He has never been interviewed by the RCMP.
The RCMP has been investigating Norman since the fall of 2016 and in January 2017 raided his home in an Ottawa suburb.
Shortly after the RCMP raid in January 2017, Norman was suspended from his job as vice chief of the defence by Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance.
Meanwhile, the supply ship that Norman fought for — the Asterix — has been delivered to the navy and is at sea supporting naval operations.