OTTAWA -- Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance has been in regular contact with Vice-Admiral Mark Norman despite the latter's surprise suspension last year as the military's second-in-command because of an RCMP investigation.
The previously unreported communications are revealed in internal emails between the two military officers obtained by The Canadian Press through the access to information law as the criminal case against Norman moves through the court system.
The emails, some of which include seasonal greetings and other personal touches, show that soon after Norman was suspended as vice-chief of defence staff in January 2017, he and Vance agreed to check in with each other once a week.
Most of the correspondence sees Norman simply writing: Ops Normal NSTR, which he notes in his first email is how submariners traditionally report that they are fine, with the acronym NSTR meaning Nothing Significant to Report.
But there are also other exchanges, as when Vance asks in February 2017 whether they can talk by the phone or meet to discuss "the way ahead in the short term" and again that April to discuss a series of upcoming military promotions.
It's unclear in the emails whether the two senior officers ever actually met for a formal discussion or talked by phone after Norman's suspension, though Vance does indicate that they saw each other at a funeral in May 2017.
Norman remains suspended with pay after having been charged by the RCMP in March with one count of breach of trust for the alleged leaking of sensitive information to a Quebec shipyard, which he has vowed to fight in court.
