March 25, 2013 Public Contracts

Montréal - In light of numerous comments made publicly about its role in awarding road maintenance contracts for potholes in the city of Montréal, the Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF") would like to make the following clarification.

The Ville de Montréal contract for the supply of asphalt is not subject to the Integrity in Public Contracts Act since it is not covered by any of the two Orders in Council issued by the government in connection with the Ville de Montréal. The city can therefore award the supply contract without requiring that an enterprise hold authorization from the AMF.

Moreover, it is incorrect to state that the AMF has begun receiving opinions from the city and has been analyzing applications from enterprises for the past three months. In fact, the AMF received the first opinion from the city on January 31, 2013 and it immediately started processing the two highest ranking tenderers.

Finally, with respect to 50 contracts covered by an Order in Council since January 15, 2013, the city provided the AMF with an opinion indicating the identity of the two highest ranking tenderers on a total of 25 contracts. Upon receipt of an opinion, the AMF starts processing the applications filed by these enterprises. AMF processing is therefore based on the pace set by the issue of opinions by the city.

Authorization procedure related to Ville de Montréal contracts
When the city has analyzed bids on any of the 50 contracts equal to or greater than $100,000 covered to date by an Order in Council, it forwards an opinion to the AMF with the names of the two highest ranking tenderers. The AMF then starts processing the authorization applications filed by the two tenderers.

The AMF verifies whether the applications are complete and compliant, before forwarding the information obtained to UPAC. In co-operation with the Sûreté du Québec, Revenu Québec, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec and the Commission de la construction du Québec, UPAC performs the audits it considers necessary and gives the AMF an opinion regarding the enterprise applying for authorization. This opinion will indicate the reason UPAC is recommending or, as the case may be, refusing authorization. Once it has received the opinion from UPAC, the AMF will issue a decision on the authorization application.

Enterprises who have been issued AMF authorization are immediately entered in the list of enterprises with authorization to enter into public contracts and subcontracts available on the AMF website.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial sector.

- 30 -

Information:

Media only:
Sylvain Théberge: 514-940-2176

Information Centre:
Québec City: 418-525-0337
Montréal: 514-395-0337
Toll-free: 1-877-525-0337
www.lautorite.qc.ca
Twitter: @lautorite This link will open in a new window