While I encounter people who don't grasp the concept of trade corridors, or believe that such corridors have no value, they do  indeed exist. They have purpose and they generate real economic activity.

In the United States, there is a Congressional Corridor Priority map that shows the major transportation corridors where much of the North American growth is expected to occur over the next 20 years. The largest and most significant corridor runs from the centre of Canada in Winnipeg, directly south through the middle of the U.S., all the way to Mexico City. A few years ago, then Deputy Minister of Transport Margaret Bloodworth told me that the Canadian federal government was committed to the Halifax-Windsor, Ont. Corridor. The commitment is still evident, as both Ottawa and the New Brunswick government complete the four-lane highway between Fredericton and Edmundston. Both the federal and Quebec governments are now also moving forward on twinning Highway 185 between Edmundston and Rivière du Loup.

Simply put, trade corridors are transportation structures connecting markets and creating opportunities as well as a state of mind. The Halifax-Moncton Growth Corridor (HMGC) never could have happened if it wasn't for the twinned highway between the two cities. Now that the transportation link is there, it is  normal for people to travel anywhere along the corridor for a quick meeting before returning to their office.

The fact is, the HMGC wasn't intended to end at Moncton. With the four lanes nearly complete, there is a corridor that connects Halifax to Windsor, Ont., and the Port of Halifax connects commerce along the corridor with the rest of the world.

If we finish the four-lane highway that runs from Halifax past Moncton onward south and west to Saint John, N.B. (it currently narrows to two lanes at Lepreau, N.B.) through to the Calais, Maine-St. Stephen, N.B. border crossing, we'll have only 145 kilometres, or 90 miles, between Calais and Bangor left to twin. What this gives us is huge.

With our four-lane highways completed, global commerce can explore moving goods inland through several routes. For example, products from Europe would enter the Port of Halifax and from there do any one of the following: travel to Woodstock, N.B., and then south on Highway 95 to Bangor, Me.; travel through Edmundston, N.B., and then connect to the Autoroute 20 at Rivière du Loup; travel through Saint John and Bangor; short-sea ship through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Montreal, Toronto, and the Great Lakes' ports; or go by rail through Montreal and then through the double-stack St. Clair tunnel into Chicago.

If we connect our key assets with multi-modal transportation corridors, we can compete with New York/New Jersey or Baltimore-or anywhere else-for a much bigger slice of an ever-growing global economic pie. The City of Buffalo, N.Y., is marketing itself as a destination for global goods en route to North American markets. It tells its international prospects that they can access Buffalo through the Port of Halifax using land, sea, or rail to complete the cost-efficient distribution.

The commercial interests in Buffalo certainly understand the assets of Atlantica and how corridors complete the value proposition. We'd be wise to move forward on the corridor agenda. It's  happening right now-and it's our chance to grab a big piece of global trade.