LIBERAL MP ANDREW LESLIE HAS OFFERED TO BE A WITNESS FOR VICE-ADMIRAL MARK NORMAN AT HIS UPCOMING TRIAL. THE TWO MEN WORKED TOGETHER, BUT IT IS UNCLEAR IN WHAT CAPACITY LESLIE WOULD TESTIFY.
Pair worked together while in the Forces
Liberal MP and former army commander Andrew Leslie has offered to be a witness for Vice-Admiral Mark Norman at his upcoming trial on one charge of breach of trust this summer.
Norman’s trial is expected to start in August but the officer’s legal team members are back in court later this week as they continue to try to get government records they believe could help in the vice-admiral’s defence.
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance suspended Norman from his job in January 2017 after the RCMP alleged he tipped off Davie Shipbuilding that the Liberal government was considering delaying a key project. That project involved the Quebec firm converting a commercial ship into a much-needed naval supply vessel. Details about the government’s decision was also leaked to journalists, and the resulting embarrassment, along with financial penalties that would have been imposed, forced the Liberal government to back down on its plans.
But the government brought in the RCMP to hunt down the source of the alleged leak. Norman, once the second highest ranking officer in the Canadian military, was charged last year with one count of breach of trust.
Norman had denied any wrongdoing.
Leslie, a retired lieutenant-general who served in the Liberal government as parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, did not respond to a request for comment. Norman’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
Leslie has announced he will not be running for re-election.
He represents the riding in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans where Norman resides and the two men have worked together while in the Canadian Forces.
Sources told CTV News, which broke the original story on Friday, that Leslie informed the Prime Minister’s Office more than a year ago that he would testify on behalf of Norman.
Postmedia has confirmed through its own sources that Leslie has made the offer to testify.
But it is unclear in what capacity Leslie would testify or whether he will even be required to testify.
Norman’s lawyers are expected to bring forward an abuse-of-process motion, likely to be argued sometime in May. That motion is expected to level allegations of political interference and obstruction of subpoena requests for documents as reasons for the case to be dismissed before it gets to trial.
Norman’s lawyers are fighting against redactions on a series of government documents they believe could be key for his defence — including memos drafted for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the case and a flurry of emails sent by Trudeau’s senior advisers last fall.
In their application to have the censorship removed, Norman’s lawyers say they particularly need access to any documents that show the government’s analysis on issues of cabinet confidences, as such confidences form the basis of the criminal leak case against Norman.
“Uniquely, this legal analysis is therefore the lynchpin of the Crown’s case and undermining it is central to the Applicant’s ability to demonstrate his innocence,” Norman’s lawyers noted in an application to the court in mid-April. They also argue they need access to documents that could show “improper political or strategic considerations” in how the government made decisions on protecting cabinet information relevant to the case.
Such documents may be crucial for the defence’s abuse-of-process motion.
IT IS UNCLEAR IN WHAT CAPACITY LESLIE WOULD TESTIFY.