The RCMP charged the Montreal-based company last week with fraud and bribing a foreign public official, alleging it broke Canadian law in trying to get a contract in the Philippines. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Ultra Forensic Technology, a formerly Canadian-owned subsidiary of a British conglomerate, provides the Mounties and law-enforcement agencies around the world with AI-assisted ballistics technology to link bullets to guns and guns to multiple crime scenes. A conviction under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act would have required the government to cut it off from federal contracts for up to 10 years—the situation SNC-Lavalin once faced. The agreement, akin to a plea bargain, averts that possibility, typically in exchange for vows of better behaviour and co-operation with authorities in related cases. Four former Ultra executives still face charges.