The NDP ethics Critic calls it a political bombshell, after Canada’s ethics watchdog found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

Mario Dion says that contravenes section 9 of the act, which prohibits public office holders from using their position to try to influence a decision that would improperly further the private interests of a third party.

He says there’s little doubt that SNC-Lavalin’s financial interests would have been furthered had Trudeau succeeded in convincing Wilson-Raybould to overturn a decision by the director of public prosecutions not to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC on fraud charges related to contracts in Libya.