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“To claim that Mark Norman is the only one with such information is ridiculous,” said Kenny. “He appears to me to be the designated fall guy.”

Norman’s supporters remain astonished by the RCMP’s pursuit of the naval officer given that leaks of secret information and cabinet confidences to trusted journalists have been part of the media strategy of every government in memory — including the current one.

Portions of the 2017 federal budget were provided to CTV days in advance of the document being made public. A “senior Liberal official” confirmed to the Globe and Mail the decision to name Julie Payette as Governor General before it was made public, telling Globe reporter Daniel Leblanc, “She is perfectly aligned with the image that we want to project. It’s such a nice nomination.” The Globe also revealed details of a Canadian special forces sniper’s killing of an Islamic terrorist, an incident officially classified as secret. And CTV was provided advance details about the government’s decision to legalize recreational marijuana.

“It’s all part of the Ottawa political game,” said retired naval Capt. Kevin Carle, who held senior positions in the media relations branch at Department of National Defence headquarters. “Information is leaked by the government of the day in a controlled method to journalists. No investigations are launched because it’s all sanctioned by the government.”

In the weeks before the raid on Norman’s home, reports indicated construction on the two Joint Support Ships being built at Seaspan in Vancouver had fallen behind schedule, and not for the first time. The cost of the project had grown, and though a DND performance report suggested the ships would be built by early 2021, some doubt that will be the case.

The Asterix, the vessel for which Norman fought, was launched in October and will be the Royal Canadian Navy’s main lifeline for warships at sea for the foreseeable future. There is widespread acknowledgement in the navy — privately, at least — that without Norman’s advocacy for Project Resolve the navy would for years have continued to have no supply capability of its own.

Canada’s community of retired naval officers has voiced little public support for Norman. As is the nature of this country’s close-knit military-industrial community, many have their own lucrative contracts with defence companies courting the government, and they are loath to do anything that might compromise their business.

In December, approaching the one-year anniversary of the removal of his number two, Postmedia returned to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance with questions about the state of the Norman matter.

How long would Norman continue to be suspended from duty? “As a matter of policy, removals from command should be temporary, except in the most exceptional of circumstances, with a decision to continue or cease that removal provided at a later date when all of the information is known and full procedural fairness can be accommodated,” said Vance’s spokesman, Lt.-Col. Jason Proulx.

Did Norman receive a hearing before being removed from command? The spokesman declined to comment, out of deference to what he called an ongoing investigation.

In some Ottawa military circles there is a belief that the government intends to make an example of Norman — that, his legal bills mounting as his state of limbo stretches on indefinitely, his family will at some point be under enough financial stress that the vice-admiral will be forced to resign.

Norman, however, has told friends he isn’t going anywhere.

In May, just before Canadian Forces personnel were to strip his office of his mementos and awards and send them to his home, Norman phoned defence headquarters and informed officials there to carefully record the process. “I want you to photograph exactly where each of those items are in the office,” Norman told officers. “Because I’m coming back — and they are going back up on the wall where they belong.”

• Email: dpugliese@postmedia.com | Twitter: davidpugliese