His lawyers have always maintained that, as they put it in a third-party records application last fall, 'Vice-Admiral Norman is not the right person standing trial'

The federal government is expected to pull the plug on its prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for alleged breach of trust, the National Post has learned.

The case is back in court on Wednesday for what was to have been a brief scheduled update on the progress of the government’s efforts at disclosing documents to Norman’s defence team.

Distroscale

Sources have confirmed that the prosecution will withdraw the charge instead.

The tip-off was an unusual alert from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada sent late Tuesday to reporters who have been following the case.

“The Public Prosecution of Canada would like to advise you that there is a scheduled appearance May 8, 2019 at 10:00 am in courtroom # 11 in the Mark Norman prosecution. You may wish to attend,” said the prosecution’s media advisory released at 6:52 p.m. ET.

A spokeswoman for the prosecution service could not be reached for further comment.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

It is unclear why exactly the government appears ready to end the case.

Norman, who is charged with a single count of breach of trust for allegedly leaking cabinet secrets about the government’s $700-million shipbuilding deal, was the No. 2 in the Canadian Forces until his temporary suspension in January of 2017.

He wasn’t charged by the RCMP until March of 2018.

Now more than a year later it is unclear why exactly the government appears ready to end the case.

One of the prosecution’s biggest hurdles was in proving one of what are called the “essential elements” of the offence of breach of trust, in particular that Norman had the intent of using his office “for a purpose other than the public good.”

That usually translates to having had a corrupt or dishonest intention.

And yet the government has never even alleged that Norman personally benefited in any way from his alleged leaking.

His lawyers, Marie Henein and Christine Mainville, have always maintained that, as they put it in a third-party records application last fall, “Vice-Admiral Norman is not the right person standing trial.”

The charge alleges that Norman leaked the secret information to a former CBC journalist and a Quebec shipbuilding firm.

That firm, Chantier Davie, had been selected by the former Stephen Harper government to provide a badly needed supply ship – basically a floating gas station – in a sole-source contract in the fall of 2015.

The Harper Conservatives lost that election, and in November, one of the new Trudeau government’s first acts of business was to discuss that contract — with former Treasury Board president Scott Brison arriving at an ad hoc cabinet meeting with a letter of complaint from Davie competitor Irving asking that the new government take a second look at the deal.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

The committee decided to request a 60-day delay before signing off on the Davie deal — that’s the information Norman is accused of leaking to the reporter and to Davie.

The decision, and the $89-million penalty taxpayers would incur if the deal was cancelled, made headlines across the country.

The new government was embarrassed into signing off on the deal, but immediately the Privy Council Office launched an internal probe into the leaks, which it referred to the RCMP.

(The ship itself was a stunning success in the world of military procurement — delivered on time and on budget.)

The problem for prosecutors is that as early as last fall, the government had identified at least six leaks linked to the ad hoc meeting alone.

In fact, only this March, RCMP charged Matthew Matchett, a public servant, with breach of trust in connection with the same alleged leak.

As Norman’s lawyers said in court documents, “The prosecution, like procurement, is immersed in politics. It pits Liberals against Conservatives, with an apolitical Vice- Admiral as its casualty.”

Henein and Mainville have made ferocious arguments in court that the government was dragging its feet even in disclosing basic documents to them.

As well, they were poised to bring an abuse of process motion later this month or early in June. That motion was expected to level allegations of political interference and obstruction of subpoena requests for documents as reasons for the case to be dismissed before it gets to trial.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

The trial was set for early August.

Liberal MP and former army commander Andrew Leslie offered to be a witness for Norman at his trial, according to a CTV News report last week.

Citing sources, the broadcaster reported that Leslie informed the Prime Minister’s Office more than a year ago that he would testify on behalf of Norman. It was unclear in what capacity he would take the stand.

The case has been rife with suspicions of political interference.

Henein has argued the government has lagged on providing records the defence requires to make its case. In March she said she had not seen “a single document,” she said, after her request in October for communications between the Privy Council Office and Prime Minister’s Office on the topic of Norman, and notes relied upon during witness interviews in the RCMP investigation of Norman.

Some of the documentation that was offered was “completely and utterly useless,” she said, detailing PCO lawyer Paul Shuttle’s submission of an inch-thick pile of records that are already public, such as the government’s access-to-information manual. “How is that possibly responsive to the request?” Ontario Court Judge Heather Perkins-McVey quipped.

Among the documents the defence was seeking was a 60-page memo from then Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick to Trudeau that had been entirely blacked out.

— With files from David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen