Attention: Business / Financial / Investing editors

GILDAN SHUTS DOWN PLANT, REAL ASSETS SELLS GILDAN SHARES

VANCOUVER, September 30, 2004 - Real Assets Investment Management Inc. announced today that it has divested of the shares of Gildan Activewear (TSX: GIL.A) in its portfolios.

Since 2003, Real Assets has worked with Montreal-based Groupe Investissement Responsible, to gain commitments from Gildan Activewear with respect to working conditions and garment workers' rights at their factories. At the 2004 Annual Shareholders Meeting, Real Assets requested that Gildan commit to addressing any workers' rights violations uncovered by audits done by the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium. Glenn Charmandy, Gildan's CEO, said that the company would remedy any problems uncovered by the audits.
 
In May 2004, Gildan met with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) to discuss the findings of each of their investigations and appropriate corrective actions. The parties met again on July 12, 2004 to continue discussions about remedial action at the El Progreso factory in Honduras. At the meeting, Gildan announced that it would be closing the plant at the end of September, resulting in 1,800 layoffs.

"By shutting down a 'problem' factory Gildan is telling the workers in that region that they must keep quiet about labour and human rights violations or they'll lose their jobs," said Real Assets' CEO, Deb Abbey. "We don't believe that this is in the interest of shareholders or long-term company sustainability. We have no choice but to divest of the Gildan shares in our portfolios."

Real Assets expects the companies it holds to honour commitments and comply with the voluntary codes of conduct they have adopted. Otherwise the codes' value to shareholders and consumers is undermined. We expect companies to engage in remediation when problems are uncovered.
 
Additional Information
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is a labour rights monitoring organization founded and supported by companies in the apparel industry including Nike, Nordstrom, Reebok, Adidas-Salomon, and others.

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) is an independent non-profit organization founded by college and university administrations, students and worker rights experts. It currently has over 100 college and university affiliates. The WRC works with colleges to ensure that supplier codes of conduct are being adhered to.
 
About Real Assets
Real Assets Investment Management Inc. is the manager of the Real Assets Social Leaders Fund and the Real Assets Social Impact Balanced Fund. Real Assets is a leader when it comes to proactive shareholder action strategies that push companies to adopt higher standards of corporate social, environmental and ethical performance. Real Assets is a VanCity subsidiary and a Working Enterprises company. Deb Abbey is author of Global Profit AND Global Justice: Using Your Money to Change the World, released in January 2004. She also co-authored the bestseller The 50 Best Ethical Stocks for Canadians in 2001

Contact information:
Indi Shoker
Tel: 604-646-5866
Toll free: 1-866-646-5850
E-mail: indishoker@realassets.ca
Real Assets Investment Management Inc.
Suite 801 - 1166 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC  V6E 3Z3