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Vice-admiral leaked secrets

The military's second-in-command leaked cabinet secrets to a shipbuilding executive as a means of pressuring the Liberal government to approve a $700-million contract, the RCMP alleges in newly disclosed court documents.

The Mounties are accusing Vice-Adm. Mark Norman of using his position to provide cabinet confidences to Spencer Fraser, chief executive of a special arm of Quebec City shipyard Chantier Davie that was leading a tentative project to convert a civilian ship into an interim navy supply vessel.

In turn, the information was passed on to lobbyists and the media with the aim of ensuring final federal approval of the project, RCMP Cpl. Matthieu Boulanger alleges in his Jan. 4 request for a warrant to search Norman's house.

An Ontario court had released a heavily censored version of the documents earlier this month. A fuller version was disclosed Wednesday after the Globe and Mail and other media outlets successfully argued in court that the public had a right to know more about the allegations.

The RCMP request for a search warrant was part of a months-long investigation into how details of a Liberal cabinet meeting in November 2015 were passed on to defence lobbyists and the media.

During that meeting, Liberal ministers decided to push pause on the controversial ship conversion project.

"Norman was opposed to the delay in the (project) process proposed by cabinet and leaked information subject to cabinet confidence in order to achieve the result that he wanted personally," Boulanger alleges in his request for the warrant.

"Norman's actions resulted in a circumvention of the established processes and procedures in place to ensure confidence in the cabinet," going against the public good and constituting a breach of trust under the Criminal Code, he continues.

Breach of trust is punishable by up to five years in prison.

No charges have been laid against Norman, who was appointed vice-chief of the defence staff in August 2016, then abruptly suspended from that role without explanation on Jan. 16 by his superior officer, defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance.

Norman's lawyer, Marie Henein, said in a statement in February that the 36-year military officer "unequivocally denies any wrongdoing."



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