The news federal prosecutors have stayed breach of trust charges against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman last week was good news for Foothills MP John Barlow.

Barlow says the charges were politically motivated and shouldn't have been laid in the first place.

He says when Liberals were set to start testifying against their own government is when things started to unravel.

"There's no question the coincidence with this is when Andrew Leslie (Liberal MP) announced that he wasn't going to run for the Liberals again and was going to testify on behalf of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, that only a few days later the Liberals dropped the charges. It's clear this was going to be pretty damning for the Liberal government and certainly for the Prime Minister."

Norman was accused of leaking government secrets to a Quebec shipyard and a journalist to influence decision making at cabinet level over a $700 million ship building contract.

At first the Liberals weren't going to pay Norman's enormous legal bills, but in the end relented, which Barlow says shows just how poorly they treated him.

"How the Liberal government and the Prime Minister treated a 30 year, honourable member and leader of our military is absolutely shameful. This is yet another example of the Prime Minister rolling over anybody who doesn't do exactly as he says."

Barlow maintains the case was politically motivated and would have been a bit of a hot potato for the government as the trial would have started shortly before October's election.

It remains to be seen what role Norman, who was second in command of the Navy, when the charges were laid, will end up with.

But he says he wants to go back to work.

 

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