Demands for pension assistance for Ontario's AbitibiBowater workers in the Legislature yesterday.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says support recently given to Nortel's pension plan should be offered to AbitibiBowater's underfunding pension plan.
"What the thousands of workers in Thunder Bay, Kenora, Fort Frances, Iroquois Falls and Thorold heard is that the government has $200 million for the underfunded Nortel pension plan," said Hampton. "Many of these workers have worked for AbitibiBowater for 30 or 40 years and have contributed to their pension plan. They were told that their pension plan is a sacred trust beyond financial or political manipulation."
"So their question is this: Will the McGuinty Liberals, who suddenly found $200 million for the Nortel pension plan, show the same concern for these workers at AbitibiBowater?"
Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky says the money given to Nortel was from a pension benefits guarantee fund that will provide each worker one-thousand dollars per month.
