Harper won't block Nortel sell-off

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he won't take any extraordinary measures to block the sale of Nortel Networks assets to foreign buyers.

Nortel, a global telecom network vendor that was once Canada's most valuable company, is selling its key assets after obtaining bankruptcy-court protection in Canada and the United States.

The prime minister was asked about Nortel during a news conference while visiting Panama on Tuesday.

Harper replied that he will let the regulatory process play itself out under the Investment Canada Act.

He also said he will not try to legislate any protectionist measures to block the sale.

Harper said he has been urging the United States to avoid protectionism and it would not be right to take such measures himself.

Nortel has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada since January.

Opposition wants deal scrapped

In a court-monitored liquidation process, the firm has been auctioning off pieces of the business.

The first round involved the sale of Nortel's wireless assets, which it has agreed to sell to Ericsson of Sweden for $1.13 billion US. The deal includes a commitment to employ 800 Canadians from Nortel.

The Liberals and New Democrats are telling the Harper government to scrap the deal, arguing it would put cutting-edge Canadian technology in foreign hands.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has made a similar appeal, but federal Industry Minister Tony Clement was noncommittal about any action to block the sale to Ericsson.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. has complained that certain conditions kept RIM from bidding on the wireless assets.

Mike Lazaridis, co-chief executive of Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM, said last week that the government should review the sale, arguing the process was stacked against the Canadian company.