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Put yourself in Mark Norman’s shoes. You are the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, the second-highest post in the Canadian Armed Forces. The son of a military family, you are the former commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, decorated several times over a career of more than three decades.

Then, early one morning, three cars full of RCMP officers arrive at your door. They stay in your house for six hours, carting away computers, cellphones, files and personal effects, thousands of them, including family photos, even your wife’s medical records.

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Hours later, you are summoned to meet your boss, Chief of the Defence Staff Jonathan Vance, who tells you he intends to relieve you of your duties. You are not told why. The suspension proceeds without any formal hearing or independent investigation. Before long, you are reading about it in the newspapers, again without explanation.

In the days that follow, you are subject to much speculation as to the reason: that you had committed some sort of sex crime, perhaps, or were a traitor to the country. Ten days later, the government issues a perfunctory statement that this was “not an issue of national security.” But in the meantime you hear the prime minister publicly back the decision, and weeks later you hear him declare that your case “will likely end up before the courts.”