Minister of National Defence

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN

Published on: March 16, 2018 | Last Updated: March 16, 2018 11:41 AM EDT

In January 2016, Defence Watch reported that James Cudmore, then a well-known CBC TV journalist who covered defence and government, had gone to work for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. His job was as a “senior policy advisor.”

Now Cudmore is moving on.

Although he is still on the job in Sajjan’s office, he will be moving to the Office of the Minister of Democratic Institutions. Sajjan’s former press secretary, Jordan Owens, is already at that office as director of communications.

There are no details yet on what Cudmore might be doing at Democratic Institutions or when he will start there.

Cudmore is a central figure in the ongoing legal battle facing Vice Admiral Mark Norman. But the move hasn’t anything to do with that issue. Cudmore wants to spend more time with his family, something that is difficult to do at the DND most of the times.

Vice Admiral Mark Norman was recently charged by the RCMP in relation to the alleged leak of information about a Liberal government plan to derail a project to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with a new supply ship.

The charge came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau predicted on two different occasions in the last year that Norman would end up in court, prompting concerns about political interference in the legal system.

The RCMP alleges Norman tipped off Davie shipyards that the Liberal government was going to delay a key navy program involving the Quebec firm converting a commercial ship, the Asterix, into a supply vessel.

Details about the Liberal decision to put the supply ship project on hold was leaked to Cudmore and the resulting embarrassment from his report forced the government to back down on its plans. Furious about the leak, the Liberal government called in the RCMP to investigate.

The case against Norman centers around a Nov. 19, 2015 meeting by Liberal cabinet ministers who decided to delay the Davie supply project after they received a letter from the firm’s east coast rival, Irving Shipbuilding. Irving, closely linked to the Trudeau government, has denied allegations it was involved in any political meddling to undercut a rival shipyard.

Norman wasn’t at the cabinet meeting but searches of electronic devices and computers at Davie showed he had exchanged emails with one company official.

Norman has denied any wrongdoing. He has never been interviewed by the RCMP.

It is unclear at this point if Cudmore will be called to testify at Norman’s trial.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/sajjans-advisor-james-cudmore-leaving-department-of-national-defence