Norman’s lawyers cite SNC-Lavalin testimony

OTTAWA— The federal government’s tight-fisted control over sensitive information in the criminal case against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman presents an “insurmountable hurdle” to ensuring a proper defence, a court heard Wednesday.

For the second day in a row, lawyers for Norman were in court seeking access to emails and memos between senior officials that the government has refused to release, citing solicitor-client privilege.

In making the case to Justice Heather Perkins-McVey — who will decide what gets released — lawyer Christine Mainville said that the Privy Council Office’s broad claims of solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence to keep information under wraps is frustrating efforts to defend the high-ranking military officer.

“The PCO controls the flow of information in this case,” Mainville told the court.

That prompted an interjection from Perkins-McVey, who noted that it’s actually up to the court to review the documents and decide what gets released, “assuming that they’ve all been turned over.”

But Mainville maintained that the government’s concern around secrecy has had a chilling effect on witnesses to “meet with us, to answer questions, for us to properly prepare. “That remains an insurmountable hurdle, we say, in this prosecution for us to properly defend this case,” she said.

Norman, who was vice-chief of defence staff, is facing one count of breach of trust and is expected to go on trial in August. His legal team has sought thousands of government documents to assist with his defence.

To pry the information loose, Norman’s legal team is relying on the comments of Canada’s top bureaucrat.

Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick told a Commons committee in February that he decided last October not to block the release of secret cabinet documents sought by Norman’s defence team.

“There are situations where they should be disclosed,” Wernick told MPs during an appearance where he testified about allegations of political interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

“I made a decision, of my own volition, with my own authority, that the easiest way to deal with the Norman matter was to let the judge decide what was relevant,” Wernick said, adding that such a decision was an “exception and an anomaly.”

The pretrial proceedings will resume on May 8.