LAUNCHING ATLANTICA

There has long been talk about Maine and other Northeastern states working more closely with Atlantic Canada to improve the region’s economy. That talk with be ratcheted up a bit this spring when a new group that is promoting a regional approach to business holds a conference in New Brunswick.

The difficult task for what is being called Atlantica is to turn new ideas into action. A further challenge is to ensure that improved roads and ports meant to connect Atlantic Canada with markets in the United States don’t mean that goods and people simply pass through Maine or bypass the state altogether.

Atlantica begins by focusing on three areas where there is already a lot of cross-border work: energy, transportation and tourism. On the energy front, electricity readily crosses the border and a new transmission line linking Maine with New Brunswick will soon be build to allow more power to cross the border. There are contentious energy issues as well. Canadian officials have pledged to oppose a liquefied natural gas facility on Passamaquoddy Bay. Two LNG facilities are currently planned in Canada, one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia.

There has been a lot of cooperation in the transportation realm, but much remains to be done. Here, federal funds have been secured to study an east-west highway connecting eastern Canada with New York, although major highway improvements remain years from reality. There has also been work to improve Maine’s ports, but Halifax remains the region’s major port. More effort should be made to ensure that the facilities in Searsport and Eastport are positioned to handle ships and cargo that can’t be accommodated in Halifax.

Tourism is the area where there has been the least cooperation. Ideas like marketing Down East Maine and the Maritimes as one destination for a multi-day visit merit further consideration.

Conference organizers, including Eastern Maine Development Corp.,

are right that individual states and provinces are too small to influence national and international policies and decisions and should therefore work together. What remains less clear is how Atlantica will increase trade, improve transportation and upgrade infrastructure.

After the June conference, that picture should be made clearer.