Marcel Dutil and Stéphan Crétier join the Board of Directors of the Montreal Economic Institute

Montreal, November 25, 2005 – The Chairman of the Board of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), Mr. Adrien D. Pouliot, is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to the MEI’s Board of Directors: Mr. Stéphan D. Crétier and Mr. Marcel Dutil.

Mr. Stéphan Crétier, MBA, is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Garda World Security Corporation. Garda provides a full range of security services including armored transportation of currency and valuables, protection of persons and premises, and electronic security solutions. The company also conducts special investigations.

Mr. Marcel Dutil is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Canam Inc., which specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of construction products and solutions in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere in the world. Mr. Dutil has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Université du Québec in Montréal, the Université de Montréal, and the Université de Sherbrooke. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec.

Messrs. Crétier and Dutil join the following current members of the MEI’s Board of Directors:

• Maître Daniel Audet, formerly Quebec’s Delegate-General in London, and until very recently Managing Partner of National Public Relations;
• Mr. Richard Carter, President and CEO of TelPlus Group Inc.;
• Ms. Hélène Desmarais, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Enterprises and Innovation Centre;
• Mr. Daniel Dorey, Director of OneCap Financial Corporation;
• Mr. Michel Kelly-Gagnon, President of the MEI;
• Dr. Léo-Paul Landry, Director of Professional Services at the Institut de réadaptation de Montréal;
• Mr. Normand Lebeau, Managing Partner of the Montreal office of the Mandrake Group;
• Mr. Ronald Monet, Director, Corporate Communications, BMO Financial Group;
• Mr. Jean-Pierre Ouellet, Vice-Chairman of RBC Capital Markets;
• Mr. Adrien D. Pouliot, Chairman of the Board of AlarmCap; and
• Mr. Yves Rabeau, full professor in the Department of Business Strategy of the Faculty of Management at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

The MEI, an independent, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institute, promotes an economic approach to the study of public policy issues. Taking inspiration from successful reforms applied elsewhere in the world, the MEI’s mission is to propose innovative solutions for the crafting of effective public policies. The MEI receives no public funding.

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For further information, please contact: Patrick Leblanc, Communications Director, Montreal Economic Institute, Tel.: (514) 273-0969 / E-mail: pleblanc@iedm.org