Canada

A committee of Canada's Senate on Thursday killed a proposed law aimed at preventing long-term disabled workers from being treated as unsecured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Bill S-216, as it is known, which moves the disabled up the queue to preferred creditor status, is meant to help disabled Nortel Networks Corp. employees who will lose their benefits at year's end because of a court-approved former employees' settlement earlier this year.

The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it will hear Newfoundland and Labrador's appeal of a lower-court mill clean-up ruling, The Montreal Gazette reported. Newfoundland and Labrador had asked the Supreme Court to rule on certain issues relating to the creditor protection process, especially whether AbitibiBowater's statutory duty to remove environmental contamination is invalidated by the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. AbitibiBowater gained court protection from creditors in Canada and the U.S. 20 months ago and plans to exit next month after the Canadian and U.S.

A committee of Canada's Senate on Thursday killed a proposed law aimed at preventing long-term disabled workers from being treated as unsecured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, Dow Jones reported. Bill S-216, as it is known, which moves the disabled up the queue to preferred creditor status, is meant to help disabled Nortel Networks Corp. employees who will lose their benefits at year's end because of a court-approved former employees' settlement earlier this year.

Premier Greg Selinger declined to respond to a charge Friday the province reneged on approving a condo development that could have kept the Radisson Hecla out of receivership, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. Selinger said because the case is now in court, he's blocked from discussing a claim by Joe Paletta, president of The Paletta Group, the province stood in the way of the redevelopment of the resort in Grindstone Provincial Park. "Obviously, it's a concern when a Manitoba family has made a major investment like that.

Family-owned fashion retailer Boutique Jacob Inc. has applied to Quebec Superior Court for an order providing protection from creditors under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act, The Montreal Gazette reported. "We need time to restructure our activities in an orderly manner in the best long-term interest of the company itself, its 2,000 employees, suppliers, creditors, customers and other partners," Joey Basmaji, president of the Montreal-based national chain, said in a statement. He said the company will operate normally and all Jacob stores across the country will remain open.

Nortel Networks Corp said Genband Inc was looking to "drastically and improperly" reduce its offer price for a Nortel business unit which it agreed to buy in December 2009, Reuters reported. Nortel has also sued Nokia Siemens Networks for failing to pay for certain trial equipment, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

The long and troubled history of the Vancouver Olympic village took another severe turn Wednesday when Millennium Water, the owners of the village, entered into receivership, The Vancouver Sun reported. Under a deal worked out between the city of Vancouver and Millennium Water, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as the receiver for the company. The firm will assume control of Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties and the Millennium Water development, the city said in a news advisory.

Insolvent Nortel Networks Corp. has reported a net loss of $649 million in the third quarter, compared to a $508 million loss a year earlier, as it booked numerous charges, the Canadian Press reported. The former Canadian high-tech giant said it booked $529 million in reorganization costs in the three months ended Sept. 30. The results also included $490 million in non-cash charges related to liabilities for its Canadian defined benefit pension plans.

Affiliates of Credit Suisse Group and Willowridge Partners are buying Nortel Networks Corp.'s stakes in 20 venture-capital funds, according to a court filing Thursday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Affiliates of Credit Suisse's alternative-investments group and Willowridge won the bidding for Nortel's venture-capital investments with an offer of nearly $23 million, court papers say. Because the venture-capital interests were already exposed to a competitive sale process, Nortel is asking the U.S.

Canada's Davie Yards reports that it has obtained an order from the Quebec Superior Court extending the stay of proceedings ordered by the court under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to January 21, 2011, MarineLog reported. The shipbuilder says the extension will allow it to continue discussions with potential industrial investors, to pursue its efforts to qualify for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy , and to develop and eventually submit a plan of arrangement to its creditors under the CCAA.