BANGOR – A Canadian publisher asked area business leaders here Thursday to turn their attentions eastward in hopes of building a regional alliance with Atlantic Canada.

“Geographically, we are in this together, whether you like it or not,” said Neville Gilfoy, president and publisher of Progress Corp., the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based publisher of Atlantic Progress magazine.

“You’ve been trying to build an economy on your own … and you’ve been looking south to Boston,” continued Gilfoy, who addressed the Action Committee of 50 at a morning meeting at Pilots Grill. “And when we try to tap you on the shoulder, you pat us on the head and say ‘Oh, you’re that nice little boy from Canada.'”

Gilfoy outlined a plan that would create a retail trade triangle that includes Bangor, Halifax and Moncton, New Brunswick. He said Maine, with its market of 1.2 million, would do well to align itself with Atlantic Canada, a move that could triple its market, he said.

A key to keep Bangor in the economic loop, Gilfoy said, remained the construction of an east-west highway from Calais.

But with an estimated $1 billion price tag, state and federal officials have balked at the prospect. Gilfoy said it is time to resurrect the debate before Canada opted to pursue an alternative western route.

Officials from the Maine Partnership and the Bangor Regional Development Alliance were receptive to the plan.

“We need to break down the barriers for our business to do business in the Maritimes,” said Bob Baldacci, chairman of the Bangor Regional Development Alliance.

“We don’t want to create something,” said Les Stevens, the executive marketing director of the Maine Partnership. “‘We will be taking advantage of something that’s already there.”

Stevens outlined his organization’s plan designed to increase international ties.

The proposal, created by the Eastern Maine Development Corp., looks to take advantage of Bangor’s geographic position at the center of a trade zone including Halifax, Quebec, Montreal and Boston.

Gilfoy said the region would do better to increase its presence incrementally, first forming a trade triangle with Moncton and Halifax before focusing on Montreal and Boston.

“Frankly, [Montreal and Boston] don’t need us right now,” Gilfoy said. “We have to join forces so they do.”