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Atlantica (trade zone)
Encyclopedia
Economic integration
Economic integration refers to trade unification between different states by the partial or full abolishing of customs tariffs on trade taking place within the borders of each state...
in the Atlantic Northeast
Atlantic Northeast
The Atlantic Northeast, or Arcadia, is a region of North America, comprising New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Definitions of the region vary; it may extend to upstate New York and/or all of Atlantic Canada....
of North America, incorporating parts of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Organization
The trade zone is promoted by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax, Nova ScotiaHalifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Halifax Regional Municipality is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Regional Municipality had a 2006 census population of 372,679, while the metropolitan area had a 2010 estimated population of 403,188, and the urban area of Halifax had a population of 282,924...
, with U.S. representatives in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
.
Atlantica has also been promoted by the Atlantic Growth Network, also based in Halifax, with the support of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for helping to build economic capacity in the Atlantic Provinces by working with the people of the region – in their communities, through their institutions and with their local and provincial governments...
, which sponsored a 2002 conference.
A conference on these issues was held at Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
June 8–10, 2006. Another conference was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia June 11–16, 2007.
This effort has also been supported by the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Economic Development. A trade and networking conference was held October 4–6, 2008, in Stowe, Vermont
Stowe, Vermont
Stowe is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,339 at the 2000 census. Tourism is a significant industry.-Geography:...
at Smugglers Notch resort as part of the RTC Congress Conference.
Regional justification
The boundaries defined by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies broadly echo the Atlantic NortheastAtlantic Northeast
The Atlantic Northeast, or Arcadia, is a region of North America, comprising New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Definitions of the region vary; it may extend to upstate New York and/or all of Atlantic Canada....
, incorporating Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
roughly north of I-90
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...
(or the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
), Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, the island of Newfoundland, and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
. The inclusion of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, and thus the entirety of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, is unsettled.http://www.acoa.ca/e/library/roundtable/transform.shtml Some organization maps also include the region of Quebec directly south of Labrador, but this has not been elaborated on.
The proponents of Atlantica believe this region has common geography, demographics, economics, and environment. This concept of a cross-border continuity is discussed in regional studies such as the influential 1981 book The Nine Nations of North America
Nine Nations of North America
The Nine Nations of North America is a book written in 1981 by Joel Garreau. In it, Garreau suggests that North America can be divided into nine regions, or "nations", which have distinctive economic and cultural features...
. In particular, proponents believe that the region has seen declining political influence in both countries, and would do well to pool its resources.
Supporters believe that state, provincial, and international borders, as well as tariffs and regulatory differences, disrupt the economic potential of the region, and that a common strategy would maximize the region's opportunities in the globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
era. The goal of the institute seems to be further reduction of tariff and regulatory barriers under NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
and development of cross-border infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
to facilitate shipping. The benefit to New England is access to the port of Halifax, while the benefit to the Atlantic provinces is direct overland access to U.S. markets.
Opposition
Opponents of the nascent Atlantica project see it having a neo-liberal agenda that would harm worker pay and rights, benefit corporations at the expense of consumers, and undermine social services through reduced taxation. http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=49933 Protesters were seen at the June 2006 conference http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/509212.html, and large-scale demonstrations occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 14-16 in opposition to the accord.http://resist.stopatlantica.org One of these protests turned into a small scale riot, when the Black BlocBlack bloc
A black bloc is a tactic for protests and marches, whereby individuals wear black clothing, scarves, ski masks, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing items...
, which included perhaps 150 protesters, moved off the planned route and ran towards the business district of Spring Garden Road, likely planning to attack or demonstrate outside the many outlets of large corporations there. Police cars and buildings were pelted with rocks and water balloons filled with paint, but police quickly quelled most of the violence. Three people were seriously injured. Twenty protesters were arrested and were released on bail after the conference ended.
Additional protests have been held with concerns over the proposed privately funded $1 Billion super-highway planned to cut across New Brunswick and Maine with corridors into Vermont and northern New Hampshire.
See also
- CascadiaCascadiaCascadia, a term that derives from the Cascade Range, may refer to:* the Pacific Northwest* Cascadia, a former plant genus now included in Saxifraga* 1700 Cascadia earthquake...
- Great Lakes CommissionGreat Lakes CommissionThe Great Lakes Commission is a United States interstate agency established in 1955 through the Great Lakes Compact, in order to "promote the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin," which includes the Saint Lawrence...
- Atlantic NortheastAtlantic NortheastThe Atlantic Northeast, or Arcadia, is a region of North America, comprising New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Definitions of the region vary; it may extend to upstate New York and/or all of Atlantic Canada....
- Northern New England CorridorNorthern New England CorridorThe Northern New England Corridor is one of ten Federally designated high-speed rail corridors in the United States. If the 489-mile corridor were completed as proposed, 110-mph passenger trains would travel from Boston, Massachusetts, to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 4 hours and 31 minutes, and...
- Canadian Consulate-General, BostonCanadian Consulate-General, BostonThe Consulate-General of Canada in Boston is a diplomatic mission of Canada located in Suite 400 of Three Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The Boston office covers the New England states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont...
External links
- Atlantica - official site
- Atlantic Institute for Market Studies - institute site
- Atlantica Growth Network - Greater Halifax Partnership
- Reaching Atlantica - site for 2006 conference
- Stop Atlantica - protest site