Three key players in AIMS’ Atlantica project met with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to discuss the concept of Atlantica and its importance to this region and the country as a whole. AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley was joined by Perry Newman, President of Atlantica Group (a US based consulting company), and Michael Macdonald, AIMS Senior Fellow, in addressing the committee. Speaking from both the US and Canadian perspective they set out the historical, economic and security case for an integrated economic region embracing the north eastern US and eastern Canada. Perry Newman summed up the situation in his remarks: “While recognizing these geographical realities—our relative isolation, low population, large land areas inadequately served by transportation infrastructure — we continue to believe that closer economic ties to Canadian economic centres would be of significant benefit to the people of both Maine and Atlantic Canada.”
