Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 13/99) - Part way through this week's premiers' conference in Quebec city, NWT Premier Jim Antoine found himself strategizing with maritime leaders and pushing the message that the North is an emerging economy.

"We're not where the southern provinces are yet. We're not even where the have-not provinces are," Antoine said.

"We're an emerging economy."

Antoine also said he received an invitation to join a strategy session with maritime leaders and found several issues are similar.

At a conference dominated by the larger provinces of Ontario, B.C. and Quebec and an agenda geared towards tax cuts and ways to become more competitive, Antoine hinted the North had to join forces with smaller provinces to get its message through.

"Tax cuts, because of the formula financing agreement, don't have a big impact on us," he said.

"We don't have huge populations like the big provinces have."

Antoine said the large southern provinces message was that if the federal government cuts taxes it would create more investment and they would become more competitive with the United States.

The North is different because it is so far away from the U.S. and because it is an emerging economy.

Antoine called for a "balanced approach" including tax cuts but more importantly the full restoration of the transfer payments that Ottawa has been cutting in for the past decade since the federal government has an estimated surplus of $10 billion.

"When the federal government restores CHST funding (transfer payments) it's done per capita and of course we have a very small population compared with Ontario," Antoine said to stress that a transfer payment increase is no panacea for the North.

Antoine started his current trip Aug. 5 with a stop-over in Iqaluit to sign a Northern Co-operation Accord with Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik and Yukon Premier Piers McDonald.

The accord commits the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut to work together and form a common front on areas of mutual interest.

The accord calls for a Northern leaders' forum to be held once a year with the agenda for the meeting set in advance and agreed to by all the parties.

Leaders will also set out a list of priority issues to be reviewed annually and may set up working groups for these issues.

Antoine mentioned social programs, land claims and the economy as important areas that the leaders might make priority issues.

Antoine said he expects to be home by Sunday.