A timeline of events in the navy supply ship troubles

OTTAWA — Here is a chronology of the Royal Canadian Navy’s supply ship scandal which resulted in the suspension of a senior admiral

1969: Supply ship HMCS Protecteur commissioned.

1970: Supply ship HMCS Preserver commissioned.

Oct. 25, 2013: The Harper government announces plans for two new supply ships, to be named HMCS Queenston and HMCS Chateauguay.

Feb. 27, 2014: Supply vessel HMCS Protecteur suffers a serious engine room fire off of Hawaii and has to be towed home to Canada.

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Sept. 21, 2014: After serious corrosion is discovered, the supply ship HMCS Preserver is slated for retirement. She remains as a floating oil barge until October 2016, when she is formally paid off.

May 14, 2015: HMCS Protecteur is decommissioned. Two new supply ships are on order, but they won’t be ready until 2020 and 2021 respectively.

July 31, 2015: The Harper government signs a letter of intent to enter into a $700-million contract with Quebec shipyard Chantier Davie to convert a civilian ship for use as an interim supply vessel.

Oct. 7, 2015: Commercial vessel Asterix arrives at Chantier Davie in Levis, Que., and refurbishment begins.

Nov. 19, 2015:  A federal cabinet committee puts the conversion project on hold.  

Nov. 20, 2015:  James Cudmore, then a CBC journalist, reports that the new Liberal government has pressed pause on the project. The Privy Council Office launches an internal investigation into the leak.

Nov. 30, 2015: The Liberal government approves the conversion plan, avoiding an $89-million cancellation penalty.

2016: The RCMP, which inherited the investigation from PCO, interviews politicians, bureaucrats and lobbyists and executes search warrants at Chantier Davie and two lobbying firms.

Jan. 4, 2017: The Mounties request a search warrant to search Vice-Adm. Mark Norman’s Ottawa home, though this is not publicly known at the time.

Jan. 16, 2017: Norman, the military’s second-in-command, is suspended without explanation.  

February 2017: Norman’s lawyer says her client “unequivocally denies any wrongdoing.”

April 6, 2017: Court documents reveal the RCMP requested the warrant to search Norman’s residence.

April 26, 2017: A newly released version of the RCMP request for a warrant shows the Mounties allege Norman used his position to provide cabinet confidences to Spencer , chief executive of a special arm of Chantier Davie that was leading the ship conversion project.

In turn, the RCMP claims, the information was passed on to lobbyists and the media with the aim of ensuring final federal project approval.

The Canadian Press