Norman’s lawyers filed notice of application for third-party records on Oct. 12, 2018 — about two weeks before Wernick’s memo to Trudeau. The Privy Council Office is the government department that supports the Prime Minister’s Office and the federal cabinet. In previous court hearings, Henein’s lawyers have raised concerns that Privy Council lawyers were discussing trial strategy with Crown prosecutors — a claim the Public Prosecution Service of Canada has strongly denied. Before handing them over to Norman’s lawyers, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey reviews the documents for possible redactions and to determine whether they are relevant to Norman’s defence. “Recent events have led me to conclude that I cannot serve as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet during the upcoming election campaign,” he said in his statement.

Source: National Post March 28, 2019 17:22 UTC