Finance committee  Since 2004 there were no employer contributions made into the health and welfare trust.

Finance committee  Well, apparently not, because all of the 400 long-term disabled were shocked when they saw $100 million missing from the health and welfare trust, which they learned for the first time on February 18.

Finance committee  I think it would be avoided if you made the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.... We'd like you to do that on an urgent basis. We'd also like the long-term disabled to be put ahead of the other employee groups, because I'm—

Finance committee  Then it wouldn't matter whether or not you had a health and welfare trust, whether you had a trust account at all, whether you had a trustee agreement. It would be irrelevant. And it would in fact be a very good way to provide long-term disability benefits on a self-insured basis

Finance committee  I'd just like to make a point. It's not an issue that's not going to cost the government. If you do not act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the CCAA it will cost the government. We see in the Nortel case alone that we're going to have an estimated $355 million of

Finance committee  The first thing I would note is that 34 out of 53 countries have preferred or super-priority status, so Canada is the laggard. We're by no means going to create any offence to bond investors of the world who are accustomed to investing in those 34 countries. The second point I'd

Finance committee  That's correct, and in a bankruptcy filing you have to ask for the right to litigate against the directors. It's subsection 5.1(2) of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. In that, you have the right to sue directors for misrepresentation, wrongful conduct, and oppression. I

Finance committee  The estimate that I have for those corporations that have pension plans, and pension plans that have a deficit, is that the investment grade companies would experience a 0.16% increase in the cost of the credit. For those that are speculative grade--junk-bond-rated--I'm saying th

Finance committee  Twelve countries have a public pension benefit guarantee insurance plan. This is a crown agency to which corporations that have pension funds are obliged to pay premiums. It is an insurance plan, such that if a corporation were to become bankrupt and there's a deficit in the pens

Finance committee  In the United States, it's to a maximum of $54,000, based on the current currency. In England, it's approximately £28,000, and in Germany there is a public insurance plan all the way up to the Canadian dollar equivalent, the last time I looked at it, at $120,000 Canadian per year

Finance committee  We're waiting for Justice Morawetz's decision any day. There was a court hearing from March 3 to March 5 in which there was a dissenting group of long-term disabled employees. For the record, I was retained, as was Joel Rochon of Rochon Genova, to represent the dissenting employe

Finance committee  In a bankruptcy protection proceeding, which is the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act proceeding, representative counsel may be appointed by the justice. That representative counsel is then directed by a steering committee. The steering committee represents persons who represe

Finance committee  I would like to see the BIA amended so that the bondholders at the time of the liquidation make up for the deficit that's in the pension plan and the long-term disability plan. The extension of the plan puts all the risk onto the shoulders of the employees. Given the volatility w

Finance committee  That's correct, yes.

Finance committee  I can do so.