NLIS 1
August 27, 2001
(Executive Council)
 

  Premier attending Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers

Premier Roger Grimes and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Tom Lush are in Westbrook, Connecticut this week to attend the 26th annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers. Items on the agenda for discussion include energy, trade and globalization, and the environment.

Premier Grimes said the key emphasis for Newfoundland and Labrador at the conference will be to highlight the province's energy resources and the North American economy.

"The New England states are one of Newfoundland and Labrador's primary markets for offshore oil and will be a primary market for our natural gas," said Premier Grimes. "The Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers provides an opportunity to spread the message to my colleagues and to the business community that the province is well positioned to provide energy resources to the region and to be a full partner in the economic growth based on security of energy supply."

Premier Grimes added that Newfoundland and Labrador will also be supporting the growing regional information technology industry and the significant environmental work the conference has been doing in the areas of acid rain, mercury emissions and climate change. In addition, at last year's conference, a trade and globalization committee was established and has been doing work in regional trade with a focus on transportation barriers.

The Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers was established in 1973 and is composed of the governors of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the premiers of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. At the annual conferences, the governors and premiers discuss issues of common interest and concern, and adopt policy resolutions that call on actions by the state and provincial governments, as well as by the two national governments. Governor John G. Rowland is hosting this year's Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers at the Water's Edge Resort in Westbrook, CT, August 26-28, 2001.

Media contact: Carl Cooper, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3960.

2001 08 27                                                      9:20 a.m.