The second-in-command of the Canadian military is set to appear in person at the Ottawa courthouse Tuesday morning with his lawyer, Marie Henein, in a controversial case that has sent shock waves through the military and defence community over the past year.
Vice-Adm. Mark Norman is charged with breach of trust and is alleged to have leaked the news in late 2015 that the Liberal government was considering cancelling a significant shipbuilding project inked earlier that year by the Conservatives.
READ MORE: Vice-Admiral Mark Norman charged with breach of trust over alleged shipbuilding leak
The cancellation would have left the navy without a way to refuel its ships at sea after its last two remaining supply ships were retired unexpectedly in 2014.
The court appearance on Tuesday will be the first for Norman in what defence insiders have described repeatedly as a politically charged case targeting a senior member of the Canadian military with a reputation for calling out bureaucratic delays and partisan hand-wringing over naval procurement.
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It all started back in the summer of 2015 when the former Conservative government changed the rules around sole-sourcing federal contracts and agreed to lease a refurbished commercial supply ship from the Davie shipyard in a $664-million, seven-year deal without a competition.
The Davie shipyard is located in the riding of Conservative MP Steven Blaney and the deal was all but done before the 2015 election swept the Liberals into power in October 2015.
In early November 2015, senior heads at two shipbuilding firms, Irving and Seaspan, sent letters to several members of the new federal cabinet asking for the newly elected Liberals to reconsider their own bids to supply interim supply ships to the navy.
READ MORE: Davie interim supply ship $700M deal delayed by Liberals
On Nov. 20, 2015, news broke that the government was considering cancelling the deal with Davie.
The firm is considered among many defence insiders as a sort of “underdog” in a monopolistic industry dominated by two firms with first dibs on federal combat and non-combat shipbuilding contracts under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
If the deal was not signed off on by Nov. 30, 2015, the government would have had to pay an $89-million penalty to Davie as compensation for costs incurred from purchasing and beginning work on the ship.
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The leak sent officials scrambling and shortly after, the RCMP launched an investigation into who had leaked news of the plans to delay the deal.
For roughly a year, nothing much happened — at least, not publicly.
Behind the scenes though, the RCMP was pulling together information on who might have been involved and as part of that spoke with individuals including Treasury Board Secretary and Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison.
Unredacted court documents said Brison told them the leak had impaired the ability of the federal cabinet to do its job and evaluate the contract.
READ MORE: Mark Norman emails paint picture of ‘personal and vindictive’ feud
Those same court documents also revealed a tense relationship between Norman and one of the most powerful families in New Brunswick, which was one of the provinces the Liberals swept in a red wave over Atlantic Canada in 2015.
Norman wrote in an email included in those court documents that the Irvings had a “personal and vindictive” feud with him and worried after news of the leak was first reported that there would be a witch hunt to find out who leaked the report of the delay.
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In January 2017, Norman was temporarily relieved of his duties in an unprecedented move that sent shock waves through the defence community.
He has made no public appearances since.
It is not clear at this point whether Norman will enter a plea but supporters have said they intend to greet Norman with Canadian flags outside the courthouse.
Proceedings will get underway at 9 a.m.
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