Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, September 27, 2000, 09:14 EDT --
Bell Canada, CIBC, Scotiabank, Mouvement des caisses Desjardins
and BCE Emergis today announced they are joining forces to create
one of Canada's largest business-to-business electronic
marketplaces. The companies plan to launch a unique new
e-procurement company, Procuron Inc., which will use combined
purchasing volumes, along with its world-class strategic sourcing
and e-commerce expertise, to benefit the Canadian business
community. Procuron will also provide e-procurement services
directly to other large Canadian companies and to emerging
vertical exchanges.

Procuron marks a new era in e-procurement, providing Canadian
businesses with a national B2B exchange to buy business products
and services including office equipment and supplies, furniture,
computer hardware and accessories, travel, courier services and
much more. In the first year, Bell Canada, CIBC, Scotiabank and
Mouvement des caisses Desjardins anticipate total combined
spending of approximately $1 billion through Procuron, which will
have its own sales force. Together, these four founding
shareholders serve more than half of Canadian businesses, and
believe this new procurement alternative will provide an
important value-added service to their customers and other
Canadian companies. BCE Emergis will provide, manage and operate
the technology infrastructure, and is one of the five founding
shareholders. As part of the transaction, BCE Emergis will issue
performance-based warrants to the other shareholders of Procuron,
subject to regulatory approval.

Procuron will provide suppliers with quick access to a massive
electronic marketplace where they will benefit from increased
revenue opportunities and an expanded customer base. Suppliers
will also enjoy lower overall transaction costs as a result of
electronic processing and lower customer acquisition costs.

"Procuron will revolutionize Canada's e-commerce landscape," said
Steve McKeown, President and CEO of Procuron. "By combining the
spending of the four companies and making the best use of their
existing channels, we can offer savings and comprehensive
e-procurement and e-commerce services for business customers. The
critical mass and experience of the founders and the superior BCE
Emergis-enabled technology will enable us to provide businesses
with the kind of procurement efficiency that has not been
possible until now."

"We are pleased to be part of this exciting initiative, which is
another step in our ongoing effort to introduce important
e-commerce services to our customers," said Jill Denham, Managing
Director, CIBC.com. "There's no other e-purchasing company in
Canada with the same breadth and magnitude."

"This innovative e-commerce marketplace will change the way
Canadian businesses do their purchasing and offer them the
opportunity to realize substantial savings from buying goods and
services online," said Albert Wahbe, CEO of e-Scotia, and
Scotiabank's Executive Vice President of Electronic Banking. "At
the same time, this initiative is a natural fit with Scotiabank's
commitment to boost e-commerce in Canada."

Through Procuron, buyers will be able to place and track orders
with a range of suppliers. Buyers will gain access to the online
marketplace through a number of channels, including the Internet
portals of Bell Canada, CIBC, Scotiabank and Mouvement des
caisses Desjardins. The Internet portals will allow these
companies to form stronger relationships with their business
customers and attract new customers. Procuron will also have a
direct sales force targeted to the needs of larger companies, who
will be able to access the Procuron marketplace directly. In the
near future, Procuron will be seeking alliances with vertical
exchanges.

"Bell's Internet strategy can be summed up in three words:
connectivity, content and e-commerce," said Guy Marier, President
of Bell Quebec and Bell Canada's representative. "Procuron
extends Bell Canada's e-commerce leadership and raises our
profile on the Internet."

"Procuron will set the framework for e-procurement in Canada and
confirm our country's strong positioning in the new economy,"
said W. Brian Edwards, President and CEO of BCE Emergis. "From a
BCE Emergis perspective, it also truly leverages our e-commerce
expertise, as it builds on our other large-scale e-commerce
projects with the banks and with Bell Canada."

Pierre Moran, Senior Vice-President, E-commerce Solutions, of
Mouvement des caisses Desjardins, said: "Desjardins is a leader
in terms of electronic commerce in Quebec. More than 20,000
companies already use its Internet AccesD service. Soon,
Desjardins' business customers will have the opportunity to
perform transactions via Desjardins' site to make purchases and
also to register with Procuron as suppliers. As a result, they
will enjoy all the benefits of electronic procurement."

The value of North American business-to-business online
transactions is expected to grow from its current level of $422
billion (US) to $2.9 trillion by 2004, comprising an estimated 17
per cent of all business trade, according to Forrester Research.
By that year, it is estimated that more than half of all
electronic business-to-business trade will be conducted through
online marketplaces. In Canada, the electronic B2B market will
generate an estimated $218 billion in transactions.

Procuron will be an independent entity that operates separately
from the founding organizations. The company is expected to begin
operations later this year. Procuron can be found on the World
Wide Web at www.procuron.com.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial
institutions and a leader in providing e-commerce solutions, with
more than $243 billion in assets and approximately 41,000
employees worldwide. It is also Canada's most international bank,
with more than 1,700 branches and offices in more than 50
countries on six continents. Scotiabank is on the World Wide Web
at www.scotiabank.ca.

About Bell Canada
Bell Canada provides a full range of communications services to
customers, including wired and wireless local and long distance
telephone services, Internet access, high-speed data services and
directories. Bell Canada, its telecom partners and subsidiaries
provide services through 13.6 million access lines, including 11
million in Ontario and Quebec. Bell Canada also serves more than
2.3 million wireless customers through Bell Mobility. Bell Canada
is 80 per cent owned by BCE Inc. of Montreal and 20 per cent
owned by SBC communications Inc. of San Antonio, Texas. Bell
Canada's Internet Web site is located at www.bell.ca.

About CIBC
CIBC is a leading North American financial institution offering
more than eight million personal banking and business customers
a full range of products and services through its comprehensive
electronic banking network, branches and offices across Canada,
in the United States and around the world. CIBC is a leader in
electronic banking, with more than three million electronic
banking customers accessing telephone banking, ABMs, PC banking,
and Internet banking at www.cibc.com.

About Mouvement des caisses Desjardins
With total assets of some $76 billion and more than 39,000
employees, the Mouvement des caisses Desjardins is Quebec's
largest financial institution and private employer. It is the
only institution to offer, through 1,143 caisses across Quebec,
a complete range of financial products and services. The
Mouvement des caisses Desjardins' mission is to contribute to the
economic and social well-being of people and communities. For
more information please refer to www.desjardins.com.

About BCE Emergis
BCE Emergis delivers network-centric e-commerce services that
significantly improve customer processes through secure B2B
exchanges. Combining e-commerce, e-payment and security services,
BCE Emergis offers clients in the healthcare, financial services,
telecommunications and transportation industries a full suite of
core and vertical-specific services that are the essential
building blocks and infrastructure required for e-commerce. BCE
Emergis is one of the top e-commerce providers in North America
and its shares are included in the TSE 100 Composite Index. For
more information, please refer to www.emergis.com.

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For media information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Hill and Knowlton (on behalf of Procuron):
Deborah McNorgan, (416) 413-4652,
deborah.mcnorgan@hillandknowlton.ca

Bell:
Louis Arseneault, (514) 391-2007/(877) 391-2007,
louis.arseneault@bell.ca

Scotiabank:
Catherine Melville, (416) 866-6203,
catherine_melville@scotiacapital.com

CIBC:
Susan McDougall, (416) 980-4047, susan.mcdougall@cibc.com

Mouvement des caisses Desjardins:
Andre Chapleau, (514) 281-7229,
andre.chapleau@ccpedq.desjardins.com

BCE Emergis
Sylvia Morin, (514) 868-2358, sylvia.morin@emergis.com