Defence chief wanted ‘discreet’ meeting with suspended vice-admiral, emails show
OTTAWA — Gen. Jonathan Vance tried to arrange a “discreet” meeting with suspended Vice-Admiral Mark Norman to discuss the future just weeks before Norman was charged by the RCMP, newly released emails show.
Norman was initially open to the idea of sitting down with the chief of the defence staff in February, but the meeting did not happen and subsequent emails suggest it was Norman who called it off.
The correspondence between the military’s top two officers was obtained through access-to-information legislation and comes amid expectations that Norman will be permanently shuffled out of his position as the military’s second-in-command.
Appointed vice-chief of the defence staff in August 2016, Norman was suspended five months later and charged this past March with one count of breach of trust for allegedly leaking cabinet secrets to a Quebec shipyard.