Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party is mired in a corruption scandal over a Canadian government contractor accused of bribing Libyan officials to secure work during the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
At the heart of the issue is a £5bn company, SNC-Lavalin, which is far from being a household name outside of Canada. So what is the firm and why has it proved so controversial over the years?
Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin is an engineering and construction group that works across the mining, oil and gas, water and infrastructure sectors.
It is Canada’s largest construction company with CA$9.3bn (£5bn) revenue in 2018 and 50,000 employees across 160 countries.
Since its founding in 1911, SNC has provided key services on big government infrastructure projects including motorways, hospitals and railways.
Its close relationship with the Canadian government has been central to Mr Trudeau’s current problems. Members of his party are alleged to have leaned on Canada’s Attorney General to influence the outcome of a corruption case against SNC-Lavalin.
The company was formed in 1991 when the country’s two biggest construction firms, SNC and Lavalin, merged.
Lavalin had previously worked on the roof for Montreal’s stadium for the 1976 Olympics during Justin's father Pierre’s time as prime minister.
The Olympics went down as the most expensive ever at the time, having gone an astonishing 13 times over budget, leaving Montreal with vast bill that almost bankrupted the city. A string of officials were convicted of corruption and breach of trust, though none of these were directly linked to Lavalin.
Outside Canada, SNC-Lavalin has been linked with allegations of bribery and corruption.
In India it won a government contract in 1995 to renovate and modernise a hydroelectric power station. SNC was accused of bribery and financial fraud. A government investigation resulted in the expulsion of several Indian government officials.
More recently in Bangladesh four former SNC-Lavalin employees were cleared of graft charges over their role in the construction of the Padma Bridge. The four-mile long bridge cost $3bn to build.
SNC-Lavalin’s latest problems stem from Libya where it is accused of handing $48m in bribes to officials between 2001 and 2011.
