In another move of recession-induced semi-Keynesian interventionism, the Canadian Federal Industry Minister, Tony Clement, announced Wednesday that the federal government would be willing to offer at least $30 million in short-term financing to Nortel Networks, the company which filed for creditor protection yesterday in an Ontario court.

“The government of Canada appreciates the importance of the telecommunications industry to our economy and will continue to work with Nortel during its restructuring through Export Development Canada,” Clement said.

EDC, the Export Development Canada crown corporation, is responsible with providing credit and risk management services to Canadian businesses which export, as well as investors in such companies, to over 200 markets worldwide.

Nortel, the multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, produces networking and switching hardware for medium and large businesses. The company has been subject to a number of financial troubles since the dot-com crash in 2001, which left the company with exorbitant investments in capital structures.

Nortel’s stock (NT) is frozen at 32 cents per share, down 77 per cent over 3 months as news of inability to finance debts, and increasing ratios of cash reserves to accounts payable were made public.

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