The federal government acknowledges it spent at least $1.4 million on the failed case to prosecute Vice Admiral Mark Norman but the total cost of the legal battle won’t be released.
The government had originally declined to provide any details about the costs to prosecute Norman, who had been the second highest ranking officer in the Canadian military.
The RCMP alleged the naval officer leaked information about the Liberal government’s decision to stall a naval supply ship contract to a Quebec firm. Norman’s legal battle started in early 2017 and became bogged down in a pre-trial hearings as his lawyers tried to get federal records they contended were needed to defend the officer against one count of breach of trust.
The case against Norman collapsed in May 2019 after prosecutors acknowledged they had no reasonable prospect of conviction. Prosecutors said they came to their decision after Norman’s defence team provided them with new information. That specific information hasn’t been divulged, but sources say it dates from the Conservative government of Stephen Harper and was never fully pursued by the RCMP.
Conservative MP Erin O’Toole submitted an order paper question to Parliament asking for the total expenditure for the investigation into Norman and the prosecution of the vice admiral, broken down by the type of expenditure.
He didn’t receive that.
[…]
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(5) Peter MacKay on Liberal Gun Bans: ‘Whatever They Do, We Will Undo’