Union asks court to fund lawyers in Canwest proceeding

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union does not have enough money to afford "effective" legal representation during the restructuring of Canwest Global Communications, its lawyer told a court Tuesday.

Doug Wray of CaleyWray, the law firm hired by the one of the country's biggest unions, asked Justice Sarah Pepall to grant financial help to pay for its lawyers.

"Without a representative order and funding … this group will not receive effective representation," he said during proceedings at a Toronto court.

Wray told the court the CEP has lost 12,000 members over the last year as companies folded or slashed their workforces to contend with the economic downturn.

Other charges are also hitting the union hard, Wray said, particularly the bills for an array of other legal actions. The union is one of a small number of groups that does not have its legal fees covered in the restructuring process.

However, Wray told the court, the CEP would still be able to afford lawyers without the extra money, though he believes they wouldn't be as effectively represented.

The discussions were part of the second court appearance on Canwest's restructuring, which is expected to stretch until at least the end of January.

More lawyers would cause delays: Canwest

Canwest lawyer Lyndon Barnes disagreed with the union's take and told the judge that he believes it's the union's responsibility to provide sufficient funding for its own legal actions.

Barnes said bringing on more lawyers to deal with separate groups of severed employees would further complicate the proceedings and could risk delays to the restructuring.

"This process has certain milestones," Barnes said. "This is an aggressive schedule to try and adhere to the restructuring" deadlines.

The hearing was intended to focus on how former staff for the Winnipeg-based media giant would be handled during the process.

Severance payments were essentially halted when Canwest filed for creditor protection, and former workers will have to line up with all who are owed money by Canwest to make a claim.

Pepall is expected to release her decision by Wednesday afternoon.

Former employees last in line for money

Earlier this month, Canwest filed for creditor protection for parts of its business, including its conventional television assets and the National Post Company, after it was unable to meet financial covenants associated with its debt.

Canwest has struggled with $4 billion in corporate debt, built up mostly in its acquisition of the former Southam newspaper business once controlled by disgraced publishing baron Conrad Black and the acquisition of Alliance Atlantis's specialty channels in 2007.

As part of the process, former employees were essentially locked out of their future severance payments, which means they will have to file a claim for money owed, which can take months or longer to come through.

After filing for creditor protection, Canwest requested that $9.8 million in bonus payments be set aside for what it considered key employees, in order to keep them from leaving the company.

Workers' names were not disclosed, and their individual payments were not specified.

Employees are low on the priority list of unsecured creditors, with bondholders and other corporate organizations taking precedence.

On Friday, Canwest is scheduled to appear in court to face a deadline for the planned transfer of the National Post to a division that owns the company's other newspapers.