NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2009
PC CRITIC: LIBERALS PUT PENSIONERS AT RISK
(Queen?s Park) McGuinty?s lazy and uninspired governance of Ontario played a major role in Nortel?s demise, says Peter Shurman, MPP (Thornhill) and PC Critic for Economic Development and Trade, who accuses the McGuinty government of abandoning Ontario?s knowledge-based sector.
?Dwight Duncan may talk about Ontario?s emerging knowledge-based economy, but it looks like he and his government branded Nortel a loser awhile back when they decided to do nothing to assist Nortel or help its employees,? Shurman says. ?Now Jim Watson (Ottawa West-Nepean) points to Nortel and talks about government neglect, yet he sat at the same Cabinet table with government Ministers who could have, and should have, taken an interest in Ontario?s knowledge based economy. Where was he, and where were his Cabinet colleagues, as Nortel drowned??
Nortel?s plight has been a matter of record for the past several years and the McGuinty government has had numerous opportunities to take action and protect Ontario?s technology sector. Instead, the only thing they?ve done so far is wring their hands at the prospect of Sweden?s Ericsson buying Nortel?s prized LTE technology.
?At a time when Nortel could have been saved the McGuinty government did nothing. They ignored the potential loss of thousands of jobs in an industry that Ontario?s future depends on and they failed to protect pensioners who may now be faced with extreme difficulty,? Shurman added.
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For more information please contact:
Monika Bujalska, Executive Assistant
Office of Peter Shurman, M.P.P. (Thornhill)
416-325-2505, e-mail: peter.shurman@pc.ola.org