By Canadian Press

Official charged in shipbuilding contract leak to plead not guilty, lawyer says

Mar 5, 2019 | 9:01 AM

OTTAWA — A lawyer for the second public official charged over the alleged leak of cabinet secrets related to the $700-million naval shipbuilding contract that is also at the heart of the case against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman says his client plans to plead not guilty.

Lawyer Matthew Day says Matthew Matchett plans to seek a jury trial as his case now moves through the court system following an extensive criminal investigation.

Matchett, who was suspended without pay from his job at Public Services and Procurement Canada in October, is accused of having leaked documents about a shipbuilding contract between the government and Davie Shipbuilding of Quebec in 2015.

That is the same contract for which Norman is alleged to have leaked government secrets, though there has been no indication the two interacted and their cases are being treated separately.

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Norman was suspended as the military’s second-in-command in January 2017 and charged last year with breach of trust.

He has denied any wrongdoing and his trial is scheduled to begin in August.

The Canadian Press