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Henein said she has repeatedly asked the government to be able to access documents labelled as cabinet confidences “so that we can defend this case and so that we can see the full story.”

But she said she has yet to receive a response from the government, and that she is prepared to address the issue with the court if the government continues to drag its feet.

“It’s quite an extraordinary prosecution where really the complainant’s deciding what we get to look at, what’s important and what’s not,” she said outside the courthouse.

Documents protected by cabinet confidence are considered political secrets. Usually prepared for ministers to help with government deliberations and decision-making, they are legally protected from unauthorized release.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s spokeswoman, Byrne Furlong, refused to comment on Tuesday “as the matter is with the justice system.”

Norman’s trial is scheduled to start Aug. 19, 2019 and is expected to last seven or eight weeks.

Justice Norman Boxall noted the court could hear the case earlier, but he ultimately agreed to Henein’s proposed schedule — meaning much of the trial will coincide with next year’s federal election.

Henein denied wanting the trial at a time that would be politically sensitive for the Liberals, saying the schedule was intended to allow other court procedures in the case to play out.

She wouldn’t say whether she intended to call politicians or other military officers as witnesses. When asked how the trial could be affected by its concurrence with the election campaign, Henein said: “I don’t know. You’d have to ask the prime minister about that.”