Military misses Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, ready to welcome him back: Top general

May 8, 2019 | 3:29 PM

OTTAWA — Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance says the military has missed Vice-Admiral Mark Norman and that the two of them will discuss Norman’s return to active duty as soon as possible.

The comment is in a statement released following the Crown’s surprise decision to stay its breach-of-trust case against Norman, who wants to be reinstated into the Canadian Forces.

Vance suspended Norman as the military’s second-in-command in January 2017, when the RCMP was investigating Norman for allegedly leaking cabinet secrets.

While Norman remained a member of the military, he was formally relieved of his post as vice-chief of the defence staff last June after the RCMP charged him.

But with the Crown’s having stayed the case, Vance says the circumstances that led to his suspending Norman no longer apply.

Norman, who was seen as a potential successor to Vance as chief of defence staff before he was charged, has acknowledged uncertainty about what new role he could play in the Forces.

The Canadian Press