By Canadian Press

Defence chief scheduled to testify in Vice-Admiral Mark Norman pre-trial today

Jan 29, 2019 | 11:41 AM

OTTAWA — Canada’s top military officer, Gen. Jonathan Vance, is slated to take the witness stand today as a pre-trial hearing resumes for his former second-in-command, suspended Vice-Admiral Mark Norman.

Vance is expected to face questions over whether Defence Department officials tried to prevent Norman’s lawyers from accessing departmental records and what instructions he gave military officers about talking to journalists.

The court heard five days of arguments last month, during which Norman’s lawyers accused the government of hiding key documents, preventing access to witnesses and cherry-picking what information is made public.

Suspended in January 2017 as vice-chief of defence staff, Norman was charged last March with one count of breach of trust in connection with the alleged leak of cabinet secrets around a $700-million shipbuilding contract.

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He denies any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charge.

Court heard this morning that former Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison has turned over personal emails that may be relevant to the case and that he has retained lawyers to ensure his privacy is properly protected.

The Canadian Press