Emails show Defence chief kept line open with suspended vice-admiral

OTTAWA — When Vice-Admiral Mark Norman was suspended last year as the military’s second-in-command because of an RCMP investigation, some suggested the officer was being left out in the cold.

But internal emails show Norman has kept in regular contact with chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance and that Vance even sought Norman’s advice on more than one occasion as the two struggled with what remains a delicate situation.

The emails, obtained by the Canadian Press through access to information requests, provide a rare window into the relationship between Canada’s top military officers and emerge as the criminal case against Norman moves through the legal system.

Norman remains suspended with pay after being charged by the RCMP last month with one count of breach of trust for the alleged leaking of sensitive information to a Quebec shipyard. He has vowed to fight the charge in court.

The case is due back in Ottawa court on May 15.

The emails, many of which include seasonal greetings and other personal touches, show that days after Norman was suspended as vice-chief of the defence staff in January 2017, he agreed to check in with Vance once a week.

Such contacts between commanding officers and suspended subordinates are common practice in the military, said one defence source who asked not to be quoted.

Vance “is still responsible for ViceAdmiral Norman as a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces,” the source said. “He’s one of his people. Anybody would be checking in with their commanding officer if they’re not at work.”

Much of the correspondence sees Norman simply writing “Ops Normal,” which he notes in one email is how submariners traditionally report that they are fine, followed by the acronym “NSTR,” meaning Nothing Significant to Report.

But there are other exchanges, as when Vance asks in February 2017 whether they can talk by the phone or meet in person to discuss “the way ahead in the short term,” and again that April to discuss a series of military promotions.

It’s unclear in the emails whether the two senior officers ever met or talked by phone after Norman’s suspension.

Norman’s lawyer, Marie Henein, said in an email Thursday that she would not comment on Vance’s “repeated attempts to communicate with my client at this time.”