March 29, 2004 Securities

Montréal – The Agence nationale d’encadrement du secteur financier (also known by the name of "Autorité des marchés financiers" or "AMF") is bringing two penal proceedings against Michel Maheux before the Court of Québec (Criminal and Penal Division), in the judicial district of Montréal.

In the first penal proceedings, Mr. Maheux is facing 74 counts of violating the Québec Securities Act (the “Act”):

• In helping, by act or omission, the Coopérative de producteurs de bois précieux Québec Forestales (the "Coopérative") to contravene the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec’s decision number 2003-C-0351 (37 counts, with a minimum fine of $1000 each);
• In helping, by act or omission, the Coopérative to make a misrepresentation regarding a transaction by mentioning during the distribution of the Coopérative’s preferred shares that those shares were eligible for the Cooperative Investment Plan, which was not the case (37 counts, with a minimum fine of $5000 each).

If found guilty of all counts, he will be ordered to pay a minimum fine of $222,000.

In the second penal proceedings, Mr. Maheux is facing one (1) count for having refused to provide documents required by the investigator assigned by the AMF to conduct to the investigation.

If found guilty of this count, he will be ordered to pay a minimum fine of $1000.

To read press releases previously published in this matter, please consult the AMF’s website, under the heading Access to the sites of the organizations merged into the Autorité. Click on the link to the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec (CVMQ), then on the link to the CVMQ’s archived press releases.

Established on February 1, 2004, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial sector. The AMF merges the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec, the Bureau des services financiers, the Régie de l’assurance-dépôts du Québec, the Fonds d’indemnisation des services financiers and the Inspector General of Financial Institutions.

— 30 —

For More Information:

Journalists only: Barbara Timmins (514) 940-2176
Issuers, dealers, advisers and representatives: (877) 525-0337, dial 9 for English, then dial 1 for industry
Investors: (877) 525-0337, dial 9 for English,then dial 2 for consumers