Vice-admiral gets the Kafka treatment

From the moment the federal government announced a settlement and payout to Omar Khadr, the prime minister has been telling us he’s angry about the deal and its $ 10.5- million price tag. He’s repeatedly said that the refusal of past governments to protect Khadr’s rights as a Canadian — and Ottawa’s involvement in Khadr’s interrogation and languish at Guantanamo Bay, after U. S. forces captured him as a 15- year- old jihadi on the battlefield — was inexcusable, despite Khadr’s history with terrorism.

“That settlement had nothing to do with what Omar Khadr might have or might not have done,” he said at a recent town hall event. “It had to do with what the Canadian government did or did not do and when a Canadian government wilfully turns its back on defending a Canadian’s rights ... we all end up paying.”

The prime minister at l east makes a defensible point. The very reason we hold Charter rights is to protect citizens from government abuses ( not, rather, as some in Justin Trudeau’s government seem to believe, to protect us from the antiabortion leanings held by Catholic summer camps). Excesses of abuse and government power come with consequences subsidized by taxpayers, while those who commit the abuses usually pay no price. That may be why the prime minister and his ministers appear to be going along with what is a very possible miscarriage of justice, or at least of process, and maybe even basic rights, occurring right under their nose.

We speak of the bizarre treatment of Royal Canadian Navy Vice- Admiral Mark Norman who, far from being a terrorist, has been a longserving, much-distinguished and high- ranking member of the military, hailing from a proud military family. His story bears almost no resemblance to Khadr’s except in one respect. Reporting by Postmedia’s David Pugliese has in recent weeks revealed that the treatment Norman has received from this government has left him stuck in a protracted legal limbo, with no end in sight. Recent developments have moved the story, from the start strange, into scandalous.

A quick recap: The viceadmiral, who was serving as Canada’s second- highest military officer, the vicechief of the Defence staff, was suddenly suspended from duty just over one year ago. The RCMP had identified him as a suspect in the leak of a 2015 classified cabinet memo relating to a Harper- era military procurement project. The project was widely supported by the military. Norman apparently liked the plan. But then came a new Liberal government that began quietly considering whether to pause the project, very likely looking for ways to politicize what was then just a straightforward and, by all accounts, uncommonly successful naval procurement.

So s omeone publicly leaked a document reveali ng that the project — a rapid refitting of a civilian vessel into a much- needed naval supply ship — was at risk of being jeopardized by the Liberal cabinet. Trudeau’s government, embarrassed, was pressured into proceeding with the original conversion of the Asterix. But they sent the RCMP to find someone to blame and they honed in on Vice- Admiral Norman, reportedly because he was known to have previously communicated via email with Davie Shipbuilding, the Quebecbased shipyard handling the Asterix project.

Norman was quickly relieved of his duties and sent home, with pay. His career has been on ice ever since. But he has not been interviewed by the RCMP, let alone charged with any crime. No formal investigation, whatsoever, has been concluded. And Postmedia’s reporting has revealed weaknesses in the case, including the fact that the contents of the document the admiral is accused of leaking were apparently common knowledge in Ottawa.

The case recently became even stranger still. The viceadmiral had applied for financial assistance for his legal bills via a federal program that supports public service members who are required to seek legal assistance arising from problems faced during their duties. The application was rejected, and a letter obtained by Postmedia from National Defence to one of Norman’s lawyers explains that, “In disclosing confidential government i nformation respecting a Government of Canada procurement initiative to a third party without authorization, ( the viceadmiral) does not meet the eligibility criteria” for the financial aid.

In other words, he’s being told he’s ineligible to use funds specifically meant to help service members defend themselves against allegations against them, because Defence has decided the allegations in this case must be true, even though no charges have been laid and no investigation has been completed. Franz Kafka, call your office.

It is possible, of course, that charges are just around the corner. Maybe a conviction would result. But in the meantime, one of Canada’s top military men remains idled, still paid while bureaucrats effectively punish him by process. It’s an appalling situation and it gets worse the longer it drags on. And if the government is handling this as unfairly and badly as it looks to us, it’s not hard to imagine hearing some prime minister at some point explain how angry he or she is about having to settle an expensive, but justified lawsuit over all of it.

As for that ship the Liberals didn’t want but were forced to accept after a leak that may not have actually been a leak? The Asterix is now completing trial runs and has successfully refuelled HMCS Toronto at sea. Meanwhile, the program to replace it with newly built vessels has been delayed again, with no delivery likely until the mid-2020s.

ONE OF CANADA’S TOP MILITARY MEN REMAINS IDLED.