33. When an application for an exclusive right to distribute gas or for a renewal of such a right is received by it, the Board must cause to be published in the Gazette officielle du Québec and in one French-language daily newspaper and one English-language daily newspaper circulating in the territory contemplated in the application a notice stating that such an application has been sent to it and that at the place and hour and on the day indicated in the notice it will hold a public inquiry at which the applicant, or any person, firm or corporation wishing to become an applicant or having representations to make, may be heard. The inquiry shall not be held before the expiry of the thirty days following the last publication.
The Board shall make a recommendation only for a person, firm or corporation who or which, in its opinion, is in a position to offer the best service upon the best conditions.