National Post (National Edition)
Senior officials tried to scuttle ship plan,
Documents contend officials dragged out plan
A small group of senior officials within the federal bureaucracy allegedly tried to scuttle a Conservative government plan to lease a supply ship from a Quebec firm, even though it would mean the Royal Canadian Navy would be limited for several years in its ability to operate effectively, according to legal documents filed in the case of Vice-admiral Mark Norman.
Thatcontentionisoneof a number of allegations contained in a third-party records application filed Friday at the Ottawa courthouse by Norman’s lawyer, Marie Henein, as part of her efforts to force the government to disclose documents she says she needs to mount Norman’s defence. The bureaucrats, whom the application did not name, are alleged to have worried the successful acquisition of the vessel from Davie could undercut a federal shipbuilding strategy that will see billions of tax dollars pumped into Irving Shipbuilding on the east coast and Seaspan on the west coast. And while the allegations have not been proven in court, Henein’s suggestion the Davie project was seen as a threat to the official government shipbuilding program is borne out by September 2015 documents Postmedia has obtained under access-to-information legislation.
Norman, formerly the head of the Royal Canadian Navy and second-incommand of the Canadian Forces, faces one charge of breach of trust for allegedly leaking confidential cabinet information about the government’s plan to delay the Davie project, a project the RCMP allege Norman championed. The allegations against him have not been proven, and he maintains his innocence.
In a lengthy response filed Friday at an Ottawa courthouse, Norman’s legal team points out it was the previous Conservative government that made the decision, without the officer’s direct input, to sole-source the contract for the supply ship to Davie.
The legal document also lays bare some of the internal fighting over the government’s shipbuilding strategy, alleging out that senior bureaucrats were working to undercut the Conservative’s plan to have Davie provide the much-needed vessel.
“Despite efforts by elected officials to have the file progress in a timely way, certain senior officials appeared to be purposely dragging their feet,” says the application, which contains allegations that have not been tested in court. “These senior officials were opposed to the Davie proposal and as a result were being unresponsive to requests from elected officials, misleading in their responses, and unfairly seeking to undermine the proposal. They were not servicing the public good.”
All this was taking place even though Canada no longer had a supply ship of its own.
To deal with that problem, the Conservative government decided in June 2015 to proceed with a deal to lease a supply ship from Davie, without opening it up to competition from other bidders.
When the Liberals came to power later that fall, they decided to delay the deal after receiving a letter from the powerful Irving family complaining their own supply ship proposal hadn’t been given a fair review. The Irvings have consistently denied any political interference in the matter.
The RCMP claims Norman tipped off Davie officials about the Liberal decision and details about the delay leaked to the CBC. The resulting embarrassment forced the government to back down on its plans and instead accept Davie’s ship.
That vessel has been successfully operating for the last six months, refuelling Canadian and allied ships in the Pacific.