Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis. (Photo: Nicole Kleinsteuber / Quinte News)
Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis says he will be focusing on helping Nortel pensioners when he returns to the House of Commons next week.
On Wednesday, it was announced a settlement had been reached to end a lengthy court battle over divvying up the US$7.3 billion raised in Nortel Networks Corp’s bankruptcy liquidation.
For more than three decades, the Sidney Street plant in Belleville hired thousands of employees.
Under the deal, Nortel’s Canadian debtors will receive about 57% of the sales proceeds, which amounts to about US $4.1 billion. US debtors will get 24%, or about $1.8 billion, and the remainder is expected to be paid to debtors in Europe.
The decision could bring some certainty for about 20,000 Nortel pensioners in Canada who have seen their benefits dramatically reduced since the bankruptcy filing in 2009.
MP Ellis tells Quinte News assisting pensioners is on his ‘checklist’.
The settlement which still needs approval in Canada, France, the United States and the United Kingdom would clear the way for pensioners and other creditors to receive payment.
