Mediation

It has been a while since I heard anything about what is happening on the mediation talks between all the parties trying to determine the allocation of Nortel Estate assets between countries. I spoke to a representative of Koskie Minsky about a month ago and she told me that they were participating. I also expect that the monitor Ernst and Young is there as well. I don't know if the Canadian Government is represented though I would think that the CRA has a big interest. The creditor's committee is most likely involved, which means that the PBGC is in there looking after the USA pension trust fund that pays retirees in the US when companies go bankrupt. The UK is in there with their pension protection fund people and they have an outrageous sized claim on the global estate. So where is Canada?

It would be nice if Koskie Minsky gave us a hint of what is happening, or the NRPC for that matter. This mediation will have a huge impact on all claimants whether in the US or Canada but the Canadian pensioners and LTD people will be directly impacted since they are waiting on the resolution to understand if there will be any assistance to them for their pensions and disabled payment benefits. Retirees in the USA and the UK are already covered by their respective governments up to the limits and within the rules of those organizations, but the Canadian pensioners are at the mercy of the courts and the administrator where their pension is concerned.

A decision in favor of Canada may negatively impact other country claimants but it will have no impact on the basic qualified pensions that are being paid to retirees in the US and the UK. It will have an impact on retirees in Canada since their pension trust fund is underwater and has a claim against the estate which if paid out could help enhance the amount of pension they receive. The same situation exists for the Canadian Disabled people who have virtually nothing in the portion of the HWT fund that they were allocated by the court. They have a claim against the estate for the money promised them and a payout there would make a huge difference to them.

I don't understand why we are not being kept better informed on the progress of this and other items such as Morneau Sobeco's progress on determining the funding ratio of the fund.