Mr. Speaker, today, because of the bankruptcy of Nortel, I have the honour to table a petition, signed by a number of Canadians who would like to bring something to the attention of the government.
The Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act currently do not protect the rights of all Canadian employees laid off by a company when they are receiving pensions or long-term disability benefits during bankruptcy proceedings. These people do not have any preferred status over other unsecured creditors. Employees are unlike any other creditors. They have been largely responsible for creating value for all stakeholders. Unlike debt holders, banks and suppliers, they are not diversified businesses taking risks and having access to tax writeoffs for financial loss. Currently under the Investment Canada Act, the federal government fails to ensure that proceeds of sales of Canadian assets to foreigners are allocated to Canadian employee-related claims before funds are permitted to leave the country.
Therefore, the following petitioners call upon Parliament, first, to amend the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to protect the rights of all Canadian employees and to ensure that employees laid off by a company receiving pensions or long-term disability benefits during bankruptcy proceedings obtain preferred creditor status over unsecured creditors; and, second, to amend the Investment Canada Act to ensure employee-related claims are paid from proceeds of Canadian assets sales before funds are permitted to leave the country.