In June the economic development, political, and bureaucratic interests of business will unite at the Atlantic Provinces Chambers of Commerce AGM. At the conference, which will be held at the Saint John Convention Centre in New Brunswick, business leaders will decide on and develop a plan to execute the vision of Atlantica.

At the conference, the main sectors that will be explored will be transportation, energy, and tourism. Others such as IT, science commercialization, and natural resources will emerge at subsequent meetings. The importance of this one can’t be underestimated; for the past several years, a great deal of work has gone into research and analysis on the idea of Atlantica, our shared region (or destiny). The Atlantic Institute of Market Studies (AIMS) has been relentless in its pursuit of data, trends, and irrefutable evidence of the need for Atlantica, which is composed of Atlantic Canada, southeastern Quebec, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and upstate New York.

Our historically determined state of affairs was crafted by the United States, Britain, and Upper Canada. While Mother Nature established us as a region with enormous commercial potential, those three disinterested parties decided against a strategy that would help us fulfill our economic destiny. As a result, we failed to establish a sense of our collective destiny. If we don’t come together soon to take control of our agenda, we’ll become victims of our shared fate. Other regions in North America and Europe are controlling their destinies and are becoming more and more competitive as regions, markets, and manufacturing sites.

If we don’t take control of our destiny, we become less competitive. Because the

infrastructure of this region has developed slowly, our businesses bear disproportionate costs that companies in other regions don’t. Improvements to our transportation infrastructure have been neglected for so long that our truck-shipping costs have made us one of the most expensive regions per tonne on the continent.

That kind of scenario directly affects manufacturing plants. Even though a plant may be profitable here, the comparable profits if it was located in another region put it at risk. It’s too late for governments to try to do something after a plant has been closed or relocated. Governments must focus their policies on creating infrastructure that allows manufacturers to be efficient and to maximize profitability.

The politics of protecting inefficiencies are expensive and short lived and lead to greater challenges in the future. These kinds of challenges cause our labour forces to migrate out of the region. They take their families, their capital, and their enterprise to other regions and contribute to the competitive advantage those areas continue to hold over us.

No one is going to come to our rescue—except us. Government can only react; they can’t and won’t lead. That challenge is meant for us, the business leadership. Petty differences and squabbles must be put aside and forgotten. The stakes are too high, too significant, too historic. This and other related topics will be discussed at the APCC AGM. The plan of action not only will be debated but it also will begin in earnest.

If you attend the conference, you can help take control of your destiny. If you don’t, you can expect to remain detached and wait for others to determine your fate. I know where I’m going to be.