Atlantic Canada's interest in boosting regional economic prosperity predates any discussion of an "international northeast" area straddling the U.S.-Canada border. Years ago, many in the Maritimes came to the realization that the notion of dependence on federal largesse from Ottawa, whether it was a good idea in the past or not, did not have much of a future.
      "In an era of continental integration, we thought our relationship with the United States, and particularly the part of it right next door, was an obvious place to look for alternative strategies," says Brian Lee Crowley, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), a Halifax, N.S.-based economics think tank. "The U.S.-Canada relationship is increasingly no longer chiefly a matter of foreign affairs, but rather one of domestic affairs with activity taking place between provinces and states and even between local governments on both sides of the border. To a large extent, that relationship is being built along the border in natural economic regions where people on both sides are trying to figure out how they can maximize the economic potential of the region."
      Atlantica is not a unique concept; Cascadia on the U.S.-Canada West Coast and the Pacific Northwest Economic Region are models under review by Atlantica proponents. And northeastern governors and provincial premiers have met collectively for years to discuss cross-border matters. But the business community is behind the current initiative. Says Crowley: "The business community has to be the one to say, 'It is in our interest in this region to actively pursue an agenda of economic cooperation and integration,' and the politicians will follow."
      The territory of Atlantica (see map) deliberately omits much of New England, including Boston, which is no mistake. "If you think strategically about where we are in the global trade network, then New England is not our natural economic partner," says Crowley. "In fact, New England is a historical construct, not an economic concept, and we needed to think much more strategically about who our real partners were. It became clear that our interests lay in northern New England and upstate New York as a trade corridor en route to places such as Detroit and Chicago."