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Clement says Nortel isn’t bankrupt

BY JOHN GEDDES

Clement says Nortel isn't bankrupt

From Industry Minister Tony Clement’s otherwise rather bland news release on Nortel this morning, this interesting line:

“It is important to note that Nortel is filing for court-supervised restructuring under the CCAA, not bankruptcy. Nortel has stated that it has every intention of emerging from this restructuring under the CCAA as a viable business. We will monitor its progress closely.”

Clement also mentions in his release that the federal Export Development Corporation has provided $30 million in short-term financing to Nortel and is open to doing more “in conjunction with other financial institutions.”

Well, $30 million isn’t much of a start for a mess like Nortel’s, but does Clement’s statement amount to the beginnings of a hint that the feds are interested in making a more sizeable contribution to the company’s survival? Is there any public lifeline money left over after the auto bailout? After all, one has to ask: why autos (and maybe lumber and cattle and…) and not telecommunications?

And if it’s not technically correct to say Nortel is filing for bankruptcy, bankruptcy is certainly the word being bandied about here and here and here and, well, just about everywhere.

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