Minister stresses need for Atlantic collaboration and cooperation

Tom Lush, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, stressed the need for continued collaboration and cooperation between all Atlantic Provinces in his address to the membership of the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce (APCC) during their annual general meeting held this past Friday, May 31.

"We can definitely use more cooperation and collaboration as we move forward and face the many shared challenges and capitalize on the tremendous opportunities here in Atlantic Canada," said Minister Lush. "We will be much stronger if we present a unified voice than if we are divided and standing as separate provinces.

"The formal establishment of the Council of Atlantic Premiers in May 2000 has further strengthened the long-standing working relationship among the four premiers. The council provides a forum to express an Atlantic Canadian perspective on matters of common interest."

A prime example of the practical efforts of the council is the implementation of the Atlantic Premiers� Action Plan for Regional Cooperation officially launched last November. The action plan outlines an aggressive agenda of concrete measures that will work together to help improve the lives of Atlantic Canadians. Currently 30 intergovernmental committees are overseeing cooperative initiatives in eight key areas: health care, education, the environment, harmonized trucking, e-government, government procurement, research and innovation, and the energy sector.

The annual general meeting, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the 106th meeting of the organization which consists of 107 local chambers of commerce and boards of trade and represents approximately 17,000 business and professional people in the Atlantic region. Minister Lush used the opportunity to stress the importance of extending the cooperative spirit outside government structures and into the public domain.

"It is our hope that this effort will not be limited to the inter-governmental level," said Minister Lush. "If we are to succeed in this region, that same spirit of cooperation and collaboration needs to extend to business and labour. It is essential that we all work in partnership and establish a positive foundation that brings social and economic growth to the area.

"In Newfoundland and Labrador we have established the Strategic Partnership Forum to improve communications among leaders in government, business and labour. The forum serves as a vehicle for developing common perspectives on the performance of the economy and for identifying key areas where business, labour and government need to work together to address specific challenges. It is our hope that this forum can be used as a model for the other provinces and we are willing to share information on structure, implementation and lessons learned.

"This was a productive discussion and I think we did great work in establishing an understanding of CAP in the business community. We can now look forward to getting the word out about what we hope to achieve as a unified force provincially with business and labour and interprovincially through the Council of Atlantic Premiers."

Media contact: Janice Lockyer, Communications, (709) 729-1342.

2002 06 05                                2:10 p.m.