There may have been no political interference but what there was, sir, was plenty of ineptitude, obfuscation, stalling, delay and cat-and-mouse gamesmanship
They’re big on “lessons learned” in the Canadian Forces, so here then, are my top three from the recently concluded Vice-Admiral Mark Norman case:This wasn’t always true, arguably still isn’t true of provincial prosecutors, but with federal prosecutors, alas, it appears to be so.
It does not appear to be merely a question of money either, though of course, that is part of the equation. “Don’t worry,” the witness said the brigadier-general advised, “This isn’t our first rodeo. We made sure we didn’t use his name.” The lead lawyer for the Department of Justice , Rob MacKinnon, got to his feet and began objecting to the proposed ban.“Want my copy?” asked the judge.My point, prosecutors in this case seemed rarely to have at their fingertips relevant documents, the law they were citing, or arguments marshalled.
One for instance: Henein wrote the prosecutor Covan, asking to see the particulars of Norman’s alleged misdeeds.Covan’s written response: “We do not believe we’re required to particularize details of the Crown case.” “The Crown doesn’t seem to be troubled by what they don’t know,” Henein snapped once. It took first a tweet from the former PM himself, and then a letter to Henein, waiving all cabinet confidence over relevant documents, to get it done.3. If prosecutors were devoid of curiosity, it was the Department of Justice lawyers who were more actively recalcitrant.
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