Air Canada’s biggest union, representing 12,300 mechanics and ground staff, has voted in favour of a tentative agreement that aims to provide labour stability and help avoid a second filing for bankruptcy protection in less than six years, The Toronto Star reported. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted 60.3 per cent in favour of a pact that calls for a 21-month moratorium on payments to the airline's pension plans and a wage freeze over the same period, among other things.

It may take until late fall or even early next year for a federal lifeline to begin flowing to Canada's embattled forestry companies and help them weather the impact of hefty tax subsidies to their U.S. rivals, The Globe and Mail reported. Ottawa's $1-billion fund, announced nearly a month ago, was designed to partly offset the impact of $6-billion to $8-billion (U.S.) in "black liquor" subsidies to American pulp producers.

Air Canada's pilots agreed Monday to support a plan for a 21-month moratorium on part of the airline's pension obligations and an extension of its current labour contracts -- a move management says is the lynchpin in it securing the necessary financing to avoid a bankruptcy filing, the Financial Post reported. "We did our part here to be part of the restructuring outside of CCAA, but there is still a lot of work to be done," said Serge Beaulieau, the chair of the Air Canada Pilots Association master executive council.

Air Canada's flight attendants approved a plan for a 21-month moratorium on the airline's pension obligations and an extension of their current contract over the same period late Sunday, the Financial Post reported. The union's membership voted 63% in favour of the plan, which management has said is vital in the airline staving off a second bankruptcy filing in six years. Air Canada's pilots are expected to release the result of their own ratification vote Monday morning.

The massive North American auto supplier network took a major hit as Lear Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest example of how the collapse in vehicle sales has spread well beyond vehicle manufacturers and deep into the thousands of firms that supply them with parts. Lear Corp., whose bankruptcy filing is the largest among auto suppliers this year, owes $7 million (U.S.) to Canadian parts makers already struggling through the worst downturn in the auto industry in a generation, The Globe and Mail reported.

The battle for bankrupt copper miner Asarco LLC continued this week, as the debtor urged creditors to approve a newly filed reorganization plan that reflects a revised offer from India-based Sterlite Industries Ltd., Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The sixth amended Chapter 11 plan filed Monday includes a deal to sell Asarco's assets to Sterlite, a subsidiary of London-based Vedanta Resources PLC, for $1.1 billion in cash and a $770 million promissory note.

Paris has set aside €100 million in stimulus funds earmarked for what the French like to call their cultural patrimony, The New York Times reported. It is a French twist on how to overcome the global downturn, spending borrowed money avidly to beautify the nation even as it also races ahead of the United States in more classic Keynesian ways: fixing potholes, upgrading railroads and pursuing other “shovel ready” projects.

Bankrupt newsprint producer AbitibiBowater Inc said that it has appointed Bruce Robertson as its chief restructuring officer, Reuters reported. Robertson, who recently served as senior managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management, will work toward a negotiated settlement of claims and a comprehensive restructuring plan, the company said in a statement. The forestry firm, headquartered in Montreal but incorporated in the United States, crumpled under an overwhelming debt-load and filed for bankruptcy protection in April this year.

Adaltis Inc, a Canadian medical device maker, said on Friday it was granted protection from its creditors by a Quebec court while it works on a reorganization plan, Reuters reported. Montreal-based Adaltis, which warned earlier this week that it was running out of money, said the Quebec Superior Court approved its application under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada). The court also approved debtor-in-possession financing of up to C$3 million ($2.6 million) through Victoria Square Ventures Inc to fund operations during the reorganization process.

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics have become a bargaining chip at Air Canada as the country's largest airline tries to overcome labour strife and avoid filing for bankruptcy protection, The Globe and Mail reported. Air Canada mechanics and technical staff, worried about losing their jobs to El Salvador, narrowly voted down a tentative 21-month labour pact that had been recommended by union negotiators, throwing the cash-strapped carrier's recovery strategy into jeopardy.