Trudeau has been outed once again.
Some might say by Raybould and now Leslie.
I'd say by his own by arrogance and incompetence.
Some might say by Raybould and now Leslie.
I'd say by his own by arrogance and incompetence.
The Bizarre Case of "Admiral Mark Norman"
- Thread starter Ron in Regina
- Start date
Yes, it would have been interesting theater.
Michael Wernick fears assassination attempts everywhere, or at least when he is in the hot seat to testify. But the rats have jumped ship. Butte, Wernick, Brison?
If Trudeau wins the next election, Canadians should hang their heads in shame.
Seems to me someone should be getting a big fat reward for showing how corrupt DND and the Liberal party are.
Way to go COMRADE CURIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You got one RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIE-berals do TRULY DESPISE the Cdn military!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As for Admiral Norman..........................................
I did suggest last autumn that it looked like LIE-berals would STALL until there is a miss trial!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And look where we are now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Norman will NEVER be able to sue LIE-berals for ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For TWO reasons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First....................LIE-berals are invoking national security crap to HIDE all the evidence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And second........................LIE-berals are invoking parliamentary privilege to REFUSE to discuss the case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I have said.................................................
the Norman Trial is a HUGE WASTE of time and money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the end LIE-berals will pay Normans legal bills and thus he will have nothing to complain about..................................
other than the many months of legal wrangling and frustration that LIE-berals put him through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But LIE-berals figure it is Normans fault he had that trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIE-beral figure Norman should have been a good little soldier and fallen on his sword!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And kept his mouth SHUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those who would question LIE-beral policy as Norman apparently did.........................
MUST BE MADE TO SUFFER! by LIE-berals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIE-berals ARE ENTITLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIE-berals are insulting our intelligence and abusing our pocket books by PRETENDING Norman did something wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And LIE-berals are PRETENDING they are serious about buying either new destroyers or new fighter jets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIE-beral view the Cdn military as a sordid hold over from a previous and primitive world now dead and buried!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Considering the mood of many Cdns.................................................
Wernick might have been RIGHT to warn of social unrest and public violence to come.....................................
if Our idiot Boy and his loser LIE-berals win another election!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That IS what Wernick was trying to warn us about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That there is so much resistance to LIE-beral policy that it is generating violent HATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But of course- as a long time HOG and major beneficiary of the LIE-beral gravy train.......................................
HOG Wernick simply and blindly assumes it is his opponents who are in the wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIE-berals are SO ENTITLED.........................................
they think we should be GRATEFUL when they rob us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After all.......................................................
LIE-berals think we should be grateful they noticed us at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And LIE-berals figure we should BE GRATEFUL.....................................................
that we have anything worth stealing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: http://www.cjme.com/2019/05/08/crown-drops-breach-of-trust-case-against-vice-admiral-mark-norman/
“I look forward to my immediate reinstatement and a return to serving Canada, something that I have done unfailingly for 38 years, something that Canadians should expect and demand,” he said in a news conference two hours after Crown prosecutors went into court to call a halt to his criminal case.
He also said he has “an important story to tell that Canadians will want and need to hear.”
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the government will cover Norman’s legal fees — something Norman appeared not to know until a reporter pointed it out.
“Wow,” he replied. “OK.”
The case has haunted the Liberals, with the opposition Conservatives and numerous former military members voicing their support for Norman. Liberal MP Andrew Leslie, a former lieutenant-general who commanded the army, was on the defence’s witness list.
The Crown’s decision to drop the case against Norman follows months of pre-trial motions in which the suspended military officer’s lawyers had been fighting for access to thousands of secret government documents.
Those included memos and emails among senior government officials, including Trudeau and recently departed clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick.
Norman’s actual trial was scheduled to begin in mid-August and run through most of this fall’s federal election campaign.
“I look forward to my immediate reinstatement and a return to serving Canada, something that I have done unfailingly for 38 years, something that Canadians should expect and demand,” he said in a news conference two hours after Crown prosecutors went into court to call a halt to his criminal case.
He also said he has “an important story to tell that Canadians will want and need to hear.”
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the government will cover Norman’s legal fees — something Norman appeared not to know until a reporter pointed it out.
“Wow,” he replied. “OK.”
The case has haunted the Liberals, with the opposition Conservatives and numerous former military members voicing their support for Norman. Liberal MP Andrew Leslie, a former lieutenant-general who commanded the army, was on the defence’s witness list.
The Crown’s decision to drop the case against Norman follows months of pre-trial motions in which the suspended military officer’s lawyers had been fighting for access to thousands of secret government documents.
Those included memos and emails among senior government officials, including Trudeau and recently departed clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick.
Norman’s actual trial was scheduled to begin in mid-August and run through most of this fall’s federal election campaign.
One correction to the story, Ron. The Crown 'stayed' the charges - they did not drop them. This means they have a year in which to re-charge him should they come up with enough evidence to make it stick - which the lawyer I listened to on PP today doubts or they - the Crown - would not have made the move they did today. The Crown at any time can change the stay of prosecution by actually dropping the case which if they had a thought between them, they would do tout suite.
The real drawback to this is that now all the documents will remain secret and Canadians may never know the real truth behind this miscarriage of justice.
It's a weenie move and any thinking Canadian can see right through it. Interesting to see that the DND is doing an about face and saying they will now pay all his defence costs. So far the government has spent $10 million dollars on this mess - not including the Vice-Admirals legal fees.
I can hardly wait to hear what Mark Norman has to say.
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea
It was on the old Calcutta in 1853
I was just a lad of fourteen years, a midshipman to be
To make my way in sailing ships of the Royal Navy
By the time that I was twenty-one I'd sailed the world around
Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
And dined on beer and herrings while the waves blew all around
I live in retirement now
And through my window comes the sound of seagulls
And sets my mind remembering
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
Way out across the open seas
I hear them sing
Oh, the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me
The proudest ship that ever sailed for queen and country
Ah, the old queen she passed away with the new born century
And I received my calling up to the Admiralty
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany
So at last the Great War blazed
I waited with the passing days
The call to arms that never came
Writing letters
I may be old now in your eyes
But all my years have made me wise
You don't see where the danger lies
Oh call me back, call me back
But the war it ran its course, they could find no use for me
And I live in the country now, grandchildren on my knee
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
And some of them they've come on rocks, and some faced mutiny
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea
-- Al Stewart
It was on the old Calcutta in 1853
I was just a lad of fourteen years, a midshipman to be
To make my way in sailing ships of the Royal Navy
By the time that I was twenty-one I'd sailed the world around
Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
And dined on beer and herrings while the waves blew all around
I live in retirement now
And through my window comes the sound of seagulls
And sets my mind remembering
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
Way out across the open seas
I hear them sing
Oh, the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me
The proudest ship that ever sailed for queen and country
Ah, the old queen she passed away with the new born century
And I received my calling up to the Admiralty
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany
So at last the Great War blazed
I waited with the passing days
The call to arms that never came
Writing letters
I may be old now in your eyes
But all my years have made me wise
You don't see where the danger lies
Oh call me back, call me back
But the war it ran its course, they could find no use for me
And I live in the country now, grandchildren on my knee
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
And some of them they've come on rocks, and some faced mutiny
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea
-- Al Stewart
‘You are free to go’: Crown drops case against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman
OTTAWA — Vice-Admiral Mark Norman is a free man after federal Crown prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they were withdrawing their breach-of-trust case against the military’s former second-in-command.
The criminal case over alleged leaks of government secrets was expected to play out during the fall federal-election campaign.
“If at any time that a reasonable prospect of conviction does not exist, it is our duty to end the prosecution,” prosecutor Barbara Mercier told Judge Heather Perkins-McVey in a hearing at the Ottawa courthouse.
She said Norman’s defence team gave the Crown new information in March.
“This new information definitely provided greater context to the conduct of Vice-Admiral Norman and revealed a number of complexities we were not aware of,” Mercier said.
After seeing it, she said, the prosecution no longer believed it had a reasonable prospect of convicting Norman.
The stunning move ends one of the most politically charged criminal cases in Canadian history more than two years after it started with Norman’s unexpected — and at the time unexplained —suspension as vice-chief of the defence staff.
It would later emerge that the RCMP were investigating Norman for allegedly leaking government secrets to a Quebec shipyard and a CBC journalist about a $700-million naval contract.
The investigation culminated last year with Norman being charged with breach of trust for allegedly trying to influence cabinet’s decision-making around the contract to lease a temporary naval support ship from the shipyard.
Norman, however, had long denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers instead that the case against him was politically motivated after the newly minted Trudeau government decided in November 2015 to review the project.
Mercier said she believes some of Norman’s communications were inappropriate but “inappropriate does not mean criminal.”
She told the court that politics played no role in the case and nobody pressured the Crown to bring it, or to drop it. “There was no orchestration of this charge or this case by anyone. There was no interference whatsoever in the (Crown’s) decision to commence this prosecution or in our decision to end it today,” she said.
The Liberals would eventually go ahead with the contract with Davie Shipbuilding, which was negotiated by the Harper Conservatives but not finalized before the federal election.
But they also launched an internal investigation into who leaked news of the initial decision to review the project. That investigation identified six leaks, after which the matter was turned over to the RCMP.
The RCMP also eventually charged another federal public servant, Matthew Matchett, with breach of trust. That case was still pending on Wednesday.
The Crown’s decision to drop the case against Norman follows months of pre-trials motions in which the suspended military officer’s lawyers had been fighting for access to thousands of secret government documents. Those included memos and emails between various senior government officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and recently departed clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick.
Government lawyers had sought to prevent the release of those documents, arguing they were covered by cabinet-secrecy laws, with the ultimate decision being left with the judge, Perkins-McVey.
Wednesday’s appearance was originally scheduled as to be an update on the government’s progress in producing those documents for Perkins-McVey to review before the Crown’s unexpected decision to withdraw the charge. Norman’s actual trial was scheduled to begin in mid-August and run through most of this fall’s federal election campaign.
The case against Norman has been politically damaging for the Liberals, with the opposition Conservatives and numerous former military members voicing their support for him. Norman was officially shuffled out as the military’s second-in-command last June but remains a member of the Canadian Forces. He is currently assigned to a temporary-duty post in defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance’s office.
nationalpost.com/news/canada/crown-drops-breach-of-trust-case-against-vice-admiral-mark-norman?video_autoplay=true
OTTAWA — Vice-Admiral Mark Norman is a free man after federal Crown prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they were withdrawing their breach-of-trust case against the military’s former second-in-command.
The criminal case over alleged leaks of government secrets was expected to play out during the fall federal-election campaign.
“If at any time that a reasonable prospect of conviction does not exist, it is our duty to end the prosecution,” prosecutor Barbara Mercier told Judge Heather Perkins-McVey in a hearing at the Ottawa courthouse.
She said Norman’s defence team gave the Crown new information in March.
“This new information definitely provided greater context to the conduct of Vice-Admiral Norman and revealed a number of complexities we were not aware of,” Mercier said.
After seeing it, she said, the prosecution no longer believed it had a reasonable prospect of convicting Norman.
The stunning move ends one of the most politically charged criminal cases in Canadian history more than two years after it started with Norman’s unexpected — and at the time unexplained —suspension as vice-chief of the defence staff.
It would later emerge that the RCMP were investigating Norman for allegedly leaking government secrets to a Quebec shipyard and a CBC journalist about a $700-million naval contract.
The investigation culminated last year with Norman being charged with breach of trust for allegedly trying to influence cabinet’s decision-making around the contract to lease a temporary naval support ship from the shipyard.
Norman, however, had long denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers instead that the case against him was politically motivated after the newly minted Trudeau government decided in November 2015 to review the project.
Mercier said she believes some of Norman’s communications were inappropriate but “inappropriate does not mean criminal.”
She told the court that politics played no role in the case and nobody pressured the Crown to bring it, or to drop it. “There was no orchestration of this charge or this case by anyone. There was no interference whatsoever in the (Crown’s) decision to commence this prosecution or in our decision to end it today,” she said.
The Liberals would eventually go ahead with the contract with Davie Shipbuilding, which was negotiated by the Harper Conservatives but not finalized before the federal election.
But they also launched an internal investigation into who leaked news of the initial decision to review the project. That investigation identified six leaks, after which the matter was turned over to the RCMP.
The RCMP also eventually charged another federal public servant, Matthew Matchett, with breach of trust. That case was still pending on Wednesday.
The Crown’s decision to drop the case against Norman follows months of pre-trials motions in which the suspended military officer’s lawyers had been fighting for access to thousands of secret government documents. Those included memos and emails between various senior government officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and recently departed clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick.
Government lawyers had sought to prevent the release of those documents, arguing they were covered by cabinet-secrecy laws, with the ultimate decision being left with the judge, Perkins-McVey.
Wednesday’s appearance was originally scheduled as to be an update on the government’s progress in producing those documents for Perkins-McVey to review before the Crown’s unexpected decision to withdraw the charge. Norman’s actual trial was scheduled to begin in mid-August and run through most of this fall’s federal election campaign.
The case against Norman has been politically damaging for the Liberals, with the opposition Conservatives and numerous former military members voicing their support for him. Norman was officially shuffled out as the military’s second-in-command last June but remains a member of the Canadian Forces. He is currently assigned to a temporary-duty post in defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance’s office.
nationalpost.com/news/canada/crown-drops-breach-of-trust-case-against-vice-admiral-mark-norman?video_autoplay=true
Read the full text of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman's statement to media after the charge against him was stayed
I’m obviously pleased with the Crown’s decision to withdraw the charges against me.
While I am relieved to be exonerated of any wrongdoing, I am disappointed it has taken this long. The alarming and protracted bias of perceived guilt across the senior levels of Government has been quite damaging, and the emotional and financial impacts of this entire ordeal have taken their toll.
I have an important story to tell that Canadians will want and need to hear. It is my intention, in the coming days, to tell that story; not to lay blame, but to ensure that we all learn from this experience. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the support of Marie Henein, Christine Mainville and my entire legal team for their wisdom and guidance. I could not have placed my, and my family’s life and future, in better hands.
If I have learned anything from my decades in uniform, it is that while professional or personal crisis is tough, it often brings out the best in people. In that context, I would like to acknowledge the professional and personal risks taken by those who have stepped forward thereby highlighting their own commitment to the truth. Their actions epitomize “what right looks like”, and I will be forever in their debt for their personal courage, integrity and honour. Ultimately, I look forward to my immediate reinstatement and a return to serving Canada – something that I have done unfailingly for the last 38 years – something that Canadians should expect and demand.
In closing, I want to speak directly to the thousands of Canadians who stood by me, who supported me and my family, both spiritually and financially: We would simply never have made it here without your generosity and help.
Thank You.
nationalpost.com/news/read-the-full-text-of-vice-admiral-mark-normans-statement-to-media-after-the-charge-against-him-was-stayed?video_autoplay=true
You are most welcome Vice-Admiral Norman.
I’m obviously pleased with the Crown’s decision to withdraw the charges against me.
While I am relieved to be exonerated of any wrongdoing, I am disappointed it has taken this long. The alarming and protracted bias of perceived guilt across the senior levels of Government has been quite damaging, and the emotional and financial impacts of this entire ordeal have taken their toll.
I have an important story to tell that Canadians will want and need to hear. It is my intention, in the coming days, to tell that story; not to lay blame, but to ensure that we all learn from this experience. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the support of Marie Henein, Christine Mainville and my entire legal team for their wisdom and guidance. I could not have placed my, and my family’s life and future, in better hands.
If I have learned anything from my decades in uniform, it is that while professional or personal crisis is tough, it often brings out the best in people. In that context, I would like to acknowledge the professional and personal risks taken by those who have stepped forward thereby highlighting their own commitment to the truth. Their actions epitomize “what right looks like”, and I will be forever in their debt for their personal courage, integrity and honour. Ultimately, I look forward to my immediate reinstatement and a return to serving Canada – something that I have done unfailingly for the last 38 years – something that Canadians should expect and demand.
In closing, I want to speak directly to the thousands of Canadians who stood by me, who supported me and my family, both spiritually and financially: We would simply never have made it here without your generosity and help.
Thank You.
nationalpost.com/news/read-the-full-text-of-vice-admiral-mark-normans-statement-to-media-after-the-charge-against-him-was-stayed?video_autoplay=true
You are most welcome Vice-Admiral Norman.
Bravo Zulu Admiral!
I guess that General Leslie joins the list of defections from the Sunny Ways government.
The Liberals hate our military so.
When asked what he thought of the then upcoming trial of Admiral Norman, Jean Chretien was heard to say: "I'm like dat ting, dere!"
I guess that General Leslie joins the list of defections from the Sunny Ways government.
The Liberals hate our military so.
When asked what he thought of the then upcoming trial of Admiral Norman, Jean Chretien was heard to say: "I'm like dat ting, dere!"
I don't know if you happened to catch Mark Norman and Marie Henein's Q &A with the press today, CC but if you want to see Marie in action and the Vice-Admiral in fine form it is well worth taking a look. Marie made several references to the fact that the government was deeply involved in the case. I have so much admiration for her.
www.ctvnews.ca/politics/crown-stays-breach-of-trust-charge-against-suspended-vice-admiral-mark-norman-1.4413355
I still work for a living and I was deeply involved in Layer #12 of a CAD drawing that's as thick as a Hoagie sandwich.
The Admiral is still going to have to be circumspect about what he says as long as he is an Admiral ... and he is saying that he wishes to return to work as soon as it is possible. He is still under Military Law and the Military is still under the lawful control of the aweful government. He won't be able to open up much, yet.
I still work part time and missed the live interview which is why I went searching for it on the CTV website and was glad I was able to hear what both Mark Norman and Marie Henein had to say.