Nortel's CEO tangled with MPs this past week over pensions and executive bonuses. Then, word came that the federal government would provide no bailout. That was followed by Friday's announcement of a $650-million sale of the troubled firm's wireless division to Nokia Siemens.
But while the fallen giant seems resigned to an inglorious end, some of Canada's most successful tech executives will be in Ottawa this week to give Industry Minister Tony Clement their advice on improving this country's digital economy.
Leaders from the likes of RIM, Open Text, and Mitel will try to craft an action plan to return to Canada to global prominence.
Nortel's troubles have overshadowed more positive news in the capital. Alcatel and Breconridge have been expanding. And several firms engaged in new wireless technology are growing.
"My forecast is for better times," says Mitel co-founder Terry Matthews, who has helped create some 70 companies
"I think that we will be in a pretty robust period for say five to 10 years. I'm actually pretty bullish on the tech outlook."
Matthews added that there has been a noticeable shift since his dire warnings one year ago of a Canadian tech collapse. Now he sees a new age of start-up firms, staffed partly by former Nortel workers, working on digital applications for the Internet and mobile devices.
Clement said he's paying more attention to the tech sector - not just carmakers. He even admitted the federal tech strategy launched two years ago is lacking.
"In terms of overall strategy, we might have had one back in the 80s or 90s but that is not good enough for 2009," Clement said. "And going forward we need to update that strategy and that is what I'm committed to do.
"The fact of the matter is that we are no longer on top in the area of the digital economy and e-business. I think that we need to change that and get working to improve our situation on these kinds of things."
But those changes won't include Nortel, which still remains one of Canada's top tech companies but provided no viable plan for success, according to Clement.
His decision to deny financial aid drew criticism from some quarters of the House of Commons.
"The loss of Nortel is the Avro Arrow of the 21st century," said New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair.
"It is a tremendous loss of technology and people and research, and we are hurting a lot of people in the process. That is a great loss not only for those people but the economy of Canada which is based on innovation. It is a very short sighted decision."
Canada also faces competition in the race to revamp the tech sector. New York Governor David Paterson, for instance, announced his own plans for a knowledge-based economy two weeks ago.
Paterson plans to match federal stimulus funding to generate $1 billion in new investment money for his state's tech firms.
