But now that Nortel is being broken up through bankruptcy proceedings, many Canadians have found, if not a renewed love, at least a feeling of nostalgia for the 114-year-old company.
The prospect of foreign companies' picking the bones of what was once Canada's largest corporation has prompted the hasty reassessment of Nortel.
James Balsillie and Michael Lazaridis, the two men who brought the world the BlackBerry, are among the prominent Canadians who are calling on the government to review the proposed $1.13 billion sale of Nortel's wireless infrastructure business to Ericsson, the Swedish company that dominates that business. Last week, the industry committee of the House of Commons in Canada held an unusual emergency meeting to discuss Nortel's fate.
