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.

Justin Trudeau Show all 8 1 /8 Justin Trudeau Justin Trudeau Day out The family get in the boat with climate change AP Justin Trudeau Keeping fit Jogging over the Alexandria bridge with the Mexican president AP Justin Trudeau Family comes first “Sophie inspires me every day to be better. I wouldn’t be here tonight if it weren’t for her leadership and her example." AP Justin Trudeau Three-way handshake Trudeau has vowed to strengthen international relations. Twitter Justin Trudeau Bromance Friendship with the White House The White House Justin Trudeau Pandas Just because. Twitter Justin Trudeau Yoga The plank became an internet sensation Twitter Justin Trudeau Making history Trudeau's gender-balanced cabinet was the first of its kind AP

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.

(AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)

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.

Justin Trudeau looking to cancel arms deal with Saudi Arabia

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.