Toronto – February 28, 2006 – CNQ, Canada’s New Stock Exchange, today announced the appointment of John MacNaughton to the position of Chairman of the Board. Concurrently, Ian Bandeen becomes Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Rob Cook will continue in the role of President. “It is an honour to work closely with John again as he brings with him an unparalleled depth of experience within the Canadian capital markets that will be of enormous benefit to the company as we expand the scope of our operations,” said Ian Bandeen.



As previously disclosed, and in addition to its traditional listed market, CNQ is working towards a launch this summer of Canada’s first visible alternative market that will allow for the trading of securities listed on the other Canadian exchanges. The goal is to provide a superior service that is markedly better, faster and cheaper than existing markets and is more in line with the needs of the global trading community. “2006 promises to be a very exciting year for CNQ as we roll out our new alternative trading initiative,” remarked Rob Cook.



CNQ commenced operations in July 2003 and became recognized by the Ontario Securities Commission as a stock exchange in May 2004, the first new stock exchange in Canada in over 70 years. CNQ's innovative market addresses the needs of emerging companies and their investors by providing a transparent, electronic trading system with full protection of client priority. There are over 50 companies listed, 24 investment dealers with direct access to the market and additional dealers participating indirectly. Information about the alternative market initiative may be found at www.alternativemarket.ca.





For further information about CNQ visit www.cnq.ca or contact:



Ian Bandeen, Vice-Chairman & CEO 416-572-2000 Ext. 2265 [email protected]