The announcement will end the government’s two-year legal battle against Norman and heads off what would have been a politically explosive trial for the Liberals
Prosecutors are expected to withdraw a criminal charge against Vice-Adm. Mark Norman, providing a major victory for the senior naval officer who has always maintained his innocence in advocating for the government to build a naval supply ship.
Norman, who was the second-highest ranking officer in the Canadian Forces, was charged last year with one count of breach of trust. The RCMP alleged Norman tipped off Davie Shipbuilding in the fall of 2015 that the Liberal government was considering delaying a project in which the Quebec firm would convert a commercial ship into a much-needed supply vessel for the Royal Canadian Navy.
Norman’s trial had been set for August, and could have seen key Liberal cabinet ministers and officials being cross-examined in court in the run-up to the anticipated October election. Among other allegations from the pre-trial hearings, one witness Norman’s lawyers called revealed that his superior, a Canadian Forces brigadier general, told him Norman’s name was deliberately not used in internal files — meaning any search conducted for records about Norman would come up empty. Norman’s lawyers cited the evidence as an example of how the process was being rigged against their client.
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance suspended Norman from his job in January 2017 after the RCMP presented him with their allegations. But just months later, a judge raised concerns in court about the strength of the evidence against Norman.
In addition, a former defence lobbyist told Postmedia that details of the 2015 cabinet meeting were already known by a number of well-connected individuals in Ottawa.
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