TORONTO (AP) — Canada's ethics commissioner says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau improperly pressured the country's former attorney general to halt the criminal prosecution of a company in a conflict of interest case.

Wednesday's report comes just before the official start of campaigning for the Oct. 21 general election.

Ethics commissioner Mario Dion says Trudeau's attempts to influence the former attorney general and justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, were contrary to the constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence.

Wilson-Raybould says she believes she was demoted because she didn't give in to pressure to reach a remediation agreement with a company accused of bribing officials in Libya.

That potential solution would avoid a possible criminal conviction that would bar Quebec-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from receiving Canadian government business. The company is a major employer.