Letter to Canadian Industry Committee

The following is a copy of the letter I sent to members of the Canadian Industry Committee who had abstained or voted "no" for passage of Bill C-501 in the House of Commons. Feel free to use parts or all of it in writing to the members.

I am writing to request that you and the other members of the Industry Committee support the passage of bill C-501 in the House of Commons.

I am a pensioner who spent 35 years working at Nortel, and during that time I always expected that I would be able to retire with reasonable certainty, and that I could live in dignity with the pension that Nortel promised me.

After the events of the last 21 months, my apprehension and unease with respect to my family's future have grown and have lain heavily on my mind. I now face huge cuts in my monthly pension due to Nortel's bankruptcy and Canada's poor laws to protect pensioners from such a fate.

Canada has always had a reputation of caring for her citizens and especially for seniors who devoted many years helping build the country and the companies they worked for. Please don't let us down now. We urgently need your help

I urge you and the members of your committee to pass Bill C-501, and to make it retroactive to the beginning of 2009 at least, so that Nortel's estate will come under the provisions of the new law giving priority to pension trust funds of bankrupt companies. This action will bring Canada into the same status as many other Westernized nations who have already taken similar steps to protect their pensioners. It will also send a clear message to corporations that their employees and retirees really matter, and that the government of Canada does truly care for the well being and protection of elderly citizens.