Canada examining investment provisions on Nortel sale

OTTAWA, July 23 (Reuters) - Canadian officials have begun researching what kind of foreign purchases of Nortel assets might be subject to government restrictions under the Investment Canada Act, Industry Minister Tony Clement said on Thursday.

He told Reuters he was not able to review anything under the act until there is an agreement of purchase and sale, but he has directed his officials to examine the issue.

Clement also said he would welcome a Canadian bid or Canadian participation in a bid for Nortel assets, and he encouraged RIM (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) last December to make a bid before Nortel entered bankruptcy protection.

But Clement said he was not able to intervene on RIM's behalf if it had procedural complaints about the bidding process, as that was up to the bankruptcy judge supervising Nortel. (Reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by Valerie Lee)