Finance Committee on March 25th, 2010

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Fréchette, pardon me. Go ahead.

[Gaston Fréchette]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to take this final opportunity to thank you. I would also like to say that if the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act had existed in our time, it would have been very helpful. I hope it will be amended for the people from Nortel. We are in the same situation as they are. But I would like you to clearly understand that, in our case, it does not help us very much.

However, if ever the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act were amended... I once heard on TV the Conservatives referring to billions and billions of dollars. If the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act were amended, maybe there would not be quite so many billions of dollars.

I would also like to say that we did the best we could with what we had at our disposal in our community. We are two young retirees from Jeffrey Mine and we have spent our whole lives working in the mines. We did the best we could. We hope that we have been able to give you some information and that when the time comes to legislate, you will think of us. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

You have about 30 seconds.

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

I wonder if, in the 30 seconds left, Ms. Urquhart could make one last comment.

[Diane Urquhart]

I just want to make the comment that we're very concerned about the Nortel Canada estate. Nortel's bankruptcy process is being driven out of New York, by the unsecured creditors committee. It's entirely possible that the Canadian estate will not have significant funds in it. My estimates are that approximately $1 billion out of the $6 billion could end here.

As you can see, there's $1.1 billion just in the pension fund alone, not including the medical costs. That's why I've come today, to make sure you're aware that the long-term disabled, who have only 17% funding in their health and welfare trust, if they're pari passu with the pensioners, are going to end up going to the poverty line.

So that's the basis upon which we say, in the Nortel case and in the general case, the long-term disabled need to have a preferred plus status. There will not likely be enough money in the Canadian estate to pay all of the pensioners, the terminated workers, and the long-term disabled. If the long-term disabled need to take an average of the small amount that could come to the Canadian estate, these people will all go to the poverty line. On that basis, we're asking that they be lifted one notch higher.

It's because of the health and welfare trusts that are not funded, not regulated relative to the pension funds, that as a matter of policy and because of their illnesses and peace of mind they need to be slightly higher.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Rafferty.

Thank you for your presentations.

Thank you very much for being with us here today.

Colleagues, we have just one small item of business, which is the budget operational request for witness expenses.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

I move it.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

It is moved by Mr. Wallace.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

That's for these witnesses, right?

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

That's correct, these and others, all witnesses with respect to the pension study.

(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

That's approved.

Thank you very much for being with us.

The meeting is adjourned.