The Obama opportunity

In his inaugural address, President Obama called for bold action “to create new jobs…to lay a new foundation for growth.” His recent address to Congress elaborated on these themes and already Congress has passed an economic recovery and reinvestment plan that will include roads and bridges, grids and digital lines.

New England’s Democratic majority in Congress will ensure the northeast benefits from the economic stimulus package now and in the future. Maine will be a particular beneficiary of the vast infrastructure monies about to be spent. This presents an opportunity for Atlantic Canada to collaborate with its northeastern neighbours. But it means thinking big.

A number of projects, requiring joint participation and partnership,  meet the stimulus criteria designed to save jobs and create new ones. Some “big” ideas include the East-West highway that would link into the I-95 corridor south and I-90 west, accelerated improvements to the ports of Halifax and Saint John and the ancillary infrastructure critical to the Eider Rock Refinery project,  and making the Calais-St. Stephen  border crossing a pilot that would take the ‘smart border’ plan to the next level.

The Clean Energy Dialogue launched at the Ottawa summit aligned to the Smart Grid and other energy projects in the Obama stimulus package also offer potential opportunities  for wind, solar, tidal, hydro, and even nuclear initiatives. There is already a joint carbon capture study with the Electric Power Research Institute involving utilities in Illinois, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, and Nova Scotia Power’s units in Lingan. Such projects can boost economic development in the energy-rich northeast region, also a convergence point for the world’s largest trading relationships –NAFTA, EU, and the Suez Express Route from Asia.

The Prime Minister also recently underlined concern about the thickening border that betrays the economics of the Canada-U.S. relationship and defies the reality of our security cooperation. Every piece of rail cargo that crosses from Canada into the United States, for example, is now cleared through a level of security not yet achieved with cargo directly imported through U.S. ports. We need to build on this collaboration. Why not, for example, a one-stop, bi-national pilot customs and immigration inspection service at Calais and St. Stephen, that could serve as a model for future projects in bigger ports of entry?

Personal relationships can also benefit from a renewed stimulus. With engagement at the top, let’s continue with Team Atlantic missions that have involved the prime minister, the Atlantic premiers, and the business community.

Eastern Canadian premiers have also been meeting with their New England counterparts for over 30 years. At a time when President Obama has reached out to Canadian leadership and America is recommitted to rebuilding relationships, we should also seize the initiative. The common sense and practical thinking behind the recent initiative by Premiers Graham and MacDonald to reduce red tape for business and workers who criss-cross the borders between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia should be applied and include not just neighbouring provinces, but the northeast states.

Why not complement the annual sessions of the premiers and governors with regular meetings between New England and Atlantic legislators? Create a permanent transnational secretariat that sustains and ensures follow-up. Structure them around practical matters like transportation, energy and the environment, health care and education—the issues that define competitiveness. Education, especially at the university and college level, is an area where Atlantic Canada has particular expertise to share.

A good model is the highly successful Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER). An Atlantic Northeast Economic Region counterpart (ANER) would complement and work with existing institutions such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and their cross-border counterparts, especially around the infrastructure projects that will soon be breaking ground so as to ensure maximum benefit for the entire region.

And to give it an entrepreneurial edge, why not include an advisory board that draws on the business smarts of Atlantic Canada. Ask Frank McKenna, former premier, former ambassador, and a true patriot, to head it up and to bring together some of the leadership that he has access to.

President Obama has invited Canadians to join him in a “smart partnership” around an agenda of common purpose with actions designed to improve the joint economic competitiveness of our two countries. Relationship building starts at the top, but for maximum effect it needs to be sustained at its roots. While Atlantic Canadians and New Englanders have been doing so with effect for centuries, the Obama administration presents a renewed opportunity to work together with our American neighbours, to think big for collective prosperity, and to make changes that “we can believe in.”

Colin Robertson is currently director of the Canada-U.S. project at the Centre for Trade Policy and Law at Carleton University. This essay draws from a presentation at the Ideas Festival in November 2008.