A federal official accused of leaking cabinet secrets pleaded not guilty Monday to a number of breaches of trust.
The lawsuit alleges that Matthew Matchett allegedly leaked company secrets about a $ 700 million shipbuilding project at Davie Shipyard.
Mr Matchett entered his plea at the start of the trial on Monday morning, more than three years after the indictment was filed in February 2019. He chose a judge and jury trial, which is expected to last four weeks.
Matthew Matchett was accused of leaking secret Cabinet documents in November 2015 in connection with a contract between Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and the Lévis shipyard.
The newly elected Liberal government then decided to suspend the finalization of the contract that ended with Davie, which provided for the rental of a temporary supply ship for the Navy. This contract was eventually approved by the Liberals.
In 2017, retired Vice Admiral Mark Norman was suspended from his duties as Vice Chief of Defense Staff, and later charged with breach of trust, in 2018. The lawsuit argued as he allegedly leaked secrets of Cabinet about the shipbuilding project.
Mr Norman was not guilty and Crown prosecutors eventually remained in the case in May 2019. Prosecutors said new evidence received from the defense team led them to decide no there is no reasonable expectation of judgment in this file.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
