Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming out this morning.
One thing this whole thing has brought to my attention is the number of pensioners of Nortel who live in my riding . There's quite a number, and I'm surprised at how many called and were concerned. When I heard this, I looked around and I called one of my colleagues, David McGuinty, who is the MP here in the area. I thought if there's anybody who has an understanding of this, it would be him, because he does have quite a number of employees as well as pensioners in his riding.
Issues came up, such as long-term disability, the people who are on this. There are 400 people who are again uncertain, and I guess that's where my question is leading. When we look at what's going on, I'm not clear on where we're going or what the end game is. I understand that Nortel is selling a large part of the patents; 2,000. That leaves about 3,000, and I'm not clear about where they'll go or what's going to be done with them. Is Nortel going to continue to exist after this exercise is over? Does it remain as a research company that only sells its technology? Does it patent and then resell technology for use? Is it a shell company? Will it remain in Canada?
These are all questions that are coming to me from people who really aren't sure what's going to happen. Will it remain as simply an R and D company that will maintain what it has done and maintain its excellence? So the questions I have are very simple. After this is over, will Nortel continue to exist in any way?
There's an income strain from royalties, whether through sales or leases. Where will that go? Who will use them? Who will benefit from them? Is it shareholders? Is it pensioners? Is it a third party that will take over a shell company? Will it be a one-time expenditure; boom, it's done, it's over with, Nortel disappears?
If you can clarify any of those questions, I think there are a lot of people out there who would appreciate it.