The government would have faced potentially devastating testimony if the case went to trial during the federal election.
In a stunning vindication for Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, the crown has dropped all charges against him.
Prosecutor Barbara Mercier said that she was given new information that led to the decision:
“If at any time that a reasonable prospect of conviction does not exist, it is our duty to end the prosecution.”
“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.”
Norman’s lawyer Marie Henein said the prosecutor “acted in the highest traditions of the bar. There has not been a day that Vice-Admiral Norman has walked into this court that we did not have the utmost confidence that this court would be impartial.”
From the beginning Vice-Admiral Norman and his team said he was being unjustly prosecuted, and this is a clear vindication for him.
That said, the questions facing the Trudeau government won’t be going away. After all, Norman’s team had repeatedly noted that they were unable to get documents from the federal cabinet that could have helped Norman’s defense. A huge memo of Trudeau’s conversations with former Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick was entirely redacted.
And there will certainly be questions about the new information that led to the dropping of the case. Was that info being withheld by the Trudeau government until now? Why didn’t Norman’s team and the prosecutor have access to it earlier?
It really looks like Norman was denied a fair trial, and those who put him through this ordeal and dragged the name, reputation, and career of a defender of the Canadian People through the mud must be held accountable.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
