A Nova Scotia judge has approved a plan to pay a portion of the debts owed to about 300 wood suppliers and silviculture operators while a buyer is sought for the shuttered NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill, CanadianBusiness.com reported on a Canadian Press story. The Supreme Court order would see the money come from the provincial government and a fund set up by NewPage, which closed its Point Tupper operation earlier this month. The government is eager to keep the woodland operators in business as the search for a possible buyer continues.

Mexican airline Interjet said on Wednesday it has opted against taking over the operations of troubled carrier Mexicana, which stopped flying a year ago due to financial difficulties, Reuters reported. In a newspaper announcement, Interjet said its board had been asked to consider taking on Mexicana's business by a third party, and had decided not to after reviewing the possibility. "We're aware of the difficult situation Mexicana's workers are going through, and we sincerely hope that their rights are safeguarded in the process," Interjet said.

Scott's Real Estate Investment Trust says it supports a motion to transfer the court-supervised restructuring of Priszm Income Fund to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Canadian Press reported. Canada's largest operator of KFC restaurants has been operating under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act since March but Priszm's secured creditors say the income trust can't be salvaged as a going concern.

Homburg Invest says it needs $34.5 million from the partial sale of its investment in Homburg Canada REIT to provide it with liquidity during its restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Winnipeg Free Press reported on a Canadian Press story. The transaction was scheduled to close Monday. Part of the proceeds will be used to reduce Homburg Invest's line of credit with HSBC to $5 million by Friday. The operating loan stood at $15 million as of last week's court filing. The Halifax-headquartered company announced Aug.

The receiver of Blockbuster Canada Co is seeking an order from the Ontario Superior Court to wind down the video rental company's operations and shut its 253 remaining retail stores, Reuters reported. Blockbuster Inc's Canadian unit, which used to operate nearly 400 stores in Canada, had filed for protection from a New York bankruptcy court in May, a month after its U.S. parent was acquired by Dish Network for $320 million.

Hart Stores Inc. has obtained an initial order for court protection from creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, CanadianBusiness.com reported on a Canadian Press story. The company, which owns mid-sized department stores throughout Eastern Canada, said that the move will allow its locations to operate while it restructures. Hart Stores received approval from the Quebec Superior Court for protection under CCAA until Sept. 29, though extensions could be granted. RSM Richter Inc. was appointed as the monitor.

BDO Canada Ltd. has acquired KPMG's consumer insolvency practice for an undisclosed price, making it one of the country's largest providers of such bankruptcy and credit counselling services, The Globe and Mail reported on a Canadian Press story. The integrated services — which offer trustees in consumer bankruptcy, proposal administrators and credit counsellors — began operating under the BDO Canada Ltd. name effective last Friday. BDO is the fifth-largest single national accounting and advisory partnership in Canada.

Creditors of Mexican glassmaker Vitro said they will appeal a recent ruling that would let the company vote on its restructuring terms -- putting Vitro itself ahead of other creditors, Reuters reported. A Monterrey-based judge last week ruled that under Mexico's bankruptcy law Vitro qualifies as a creditor because of its $1.9 billion of intercompany debt, giving it an advantage over other creditors when it comes to deciding its $3.4 billion restructuring plan.

Further clarity emerged this week as to what regulators will require from banks to make bank capital instruments compliant under Basel 3 when Canada released its rules on non-viability contingent capital, Reuters reported. However, while the release provided clues on how regulators will define non-viability, the implications for Europe are not obvious while current market conditions would make any issuance extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Changing demographics, increasingly vocal retirees, and the prospect of more companies finding themselves in trouble have all combined to create more interest than ever in pension law, a leading practitioner said this morning, the Canadian Lawyer Legal Feeds blog reported. “I have often marvelled myself at the interest in pension law,” Andrew Hatnay of Toronto’s Koskie Minsky LLP said at the Canadian Bar Association conference in Halifax.