Mark Evans had ample coverage of the Nortel AGM, including his post-mortem, where he credited Nortel's brass for managing very well during the Q&A crossfire.  I could not attend the event due to a conflict, however, had I been at the Toronto Congress Center, here is the question I would have directed straight at the Board of Directors: "Why are you taking Toronto out of Nortel's R&D equation?" 

I understand 100% what the CEO/Admiral Owens meant when he talked about Nortel's Brampton HQ.  It is a very large facility that was once one of the main manufacturing plants of the company, but now is the base to only roughly 1,000 management, HR, sales and various administrative personnel.  From a strict accounting perspective, it almost represents the proverbial "white elephant" that despite being a great facility, with a fabulous work-out gym, cafeteria, visitor center, etc.  I understand that the company has been trying to sublet some of the vast unused space, without success, and the area taken up by this space is quite above and beyond its current needs.

But is moving all these operations and consolidating everything from the Brampton HQ to Ottawa the right thing to do?  That will effectively kill any future potential for Nortel to ever recruit young bright engineers in what is Canada's largest market: the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).  Some of the brightest engineers graduate every year from institutions such as the University of Toronto (Nortel collaborates with U of T on a lab and some joint research projects) and the University of Waterloo (which granted, is not in Toronto, but pretty close).  Throw in a few other institutions that are also within the area (York, Ryerson, McMaster, etc.) and then one realizes the great recruiting potential of Toronto. 

Moving whatever small pieces of R&D (probably more like a very little R and a very big D), PLM (Product Line Management) and product marketing that are left here in Toronto to Ottawa makes no sense whatsoever.  Many brilliant folks refuse to go work in Nation's Capital (famous for its brutal winters) and instead choose to remain here, where they can work at other established vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, IBM, RIM or Siemens, service providers such as Allstream, Bell Canada or Telus, or even startups such as Newstep, etc.  In fact, many Nortel competitors, realizing the great potential of the GTA's graduates are expanding their operations here (such as Siemens, for instance, which picked up a couple of startups within the GTA over the past few years: Trango - a contact center vendor - and Chantry Networks - a WLAN vendor).  Now, does it make sense for one of our nation's greatest R&D spenders to completely shut down its operations in Canada's largest city?  I would say no - au contraire.  Closing Brampton might be necessary from a cost saving perspective, but there is plenty of cheap office real estate to be had/rented (such as for instance, the old BNR location in downtown Toronto, at 522 University Avenue, where Nortel once had a sweetheart of a deal).  Move some of the bureaucratic functions back to Ottawa, but keep and grow the R&D in Toronto.  Hopefully the new directors will hear this message loud and clear.