Court hears departments, officials collecting own files in Norman case
OTTAWA — Federal officials have been collecting thousands of documents — including cabinet secrets — requested by suspended Vice-Admiral Mark Norman’s lawyers largely on their own, an Ottawa court heard Wednesday.
Two months ago, Norman’s lawyers gave the court a list of federal records they say are needed to ensure their client receives a fair trial, and they accused the government of having “cherry-picked” information disclosed in the senior military officer’s breach of trust case.
Many of the documents relate to a $700-million contract with a Quebec shipbuilding company to refit a civilian ship into a support vessel for the navy. The deal was negotiated by the Harper Conservatives in 2015 and signed by the newly elected Trudeau Liberals.
Norman was suspended in January 2017 as the military’s second-in-command and charged with one count of breach of trust in connection with the alleged leak of cabinet secrets around the shipbuilding project. He has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charge.