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The witness, a military officer, told the court that he was processing an access-to-information request in 2017 that returned no results. When he sought clarification, the witness testified the general smiled and told him: “Don’t worry, this isn’t our first rodeo. We made sure we never used his name. Send back the nil return.”

“He seemed proud to provide that response,” said the witness of the general. The witness does not know Norman but came forward because of his concerns the actions being taken were not proper.

Just as disturbing is that fact the judge believed there was a need to protect the witness from reprisals from federal officials and those at National Defence headquarters. To do that, the judge ordered a publication ban so the name of the military witness – for now anyways – would not be revealed publicly.

Think about this for a minute. This isn’t some Mafia or narcos trial. This isn’t some snitch who needs to be protected from his fellow gangsters.

This is a military member who knew what the right thing to do was and came forward on his own. He didn’t trust the Canadian Forces system to protect him. He didn’t trust the senior military and defence leadership, which had already determined that Norman was guilty of wrongdoing, even though no internal investigation into the vice admiral’s actions were conducted.

The witness didn’t go to the National Investigation Service, the internal DND police force that often finds it challenging to gather evidence that might implicate senior leaders. He didn’t go to the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, a troubled organization which is considered a joke among whistleblowers. And he didn’t go to the Information Commissioner of Canada, the organization that oversees the Access to Information law but on that is gaining an increasing reputation among those who use the process as being too cozy with the senior bureaucracy.

This is a situation where it seems the courts don’t believe Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance, and Deputy Minister Jody Thomas can even guarantee basic workplace protection to those individuals who want to follow an ethical and legal path.

(Analysis/commentary)