Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a fresh round of questions on the SNC-Lavalin controversy Friday after he out some money to a technology firm.
Trudeau was in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata and announced a $40 million of federal money for BlackBerry, the one-time smartphone leader that is now working on software to enable self-driving cars.
BlackBerry says its QNX software is already in tens of millions of cars, guiding systems related to driver assistance, hands-free features and entertainment consoles.
The federal money, to come from the Strategic Innovation Fund, will go towards software development and skills training for workers.
The company is putting $300 million of its own money into the initiative, expected to create 800 jobs over the next decade at BlackBerry’s Kanata campus as well as support 300 existing jobs there.
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But the federal announcement was also overshadowed by ongoing fallout over allegations of undue political pressure on criminal justice.
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Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned from the federal cabinet this week, leaving unanswered questions about whether Trudeau’s aides leaned on her to help engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution.
Trudeau has denied Wilson-Raybould was pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin rather than pursue a criminal trial on charges of bribery and fraud linked to the company’s efforts to secure business in Libya.
READ MORE: Jody Wilson-Raybould’s father speaks out on SNC-Lavalin controversy
He says Wilson-Raybould should have come to him with any concerns she might have had about the matter.
The Liberal-dominated House of Commons justice committee has agreed to hear from a handful of witnesses, but the list does not include Wilson-Raybould.
Federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion has begun his own investigation into the matter, specifically whether there’s been a violation of the Conflict of Interest Act.
WATCH: Trudeau denies allegation that PMO pressured AG to drop SNC-Lavalin case
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