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FCPP NO. 60
POLICY • MAY
SERIES NO.2009
60 • MAY 2009

Growing
Heartlandia

By Livio Di Matteo

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GROWING HEARTLANDIA
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About the Author

Livio Di Matteo holds a PhD from McMaster University and

is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University where he has
served since 1990. His research areas include public policy, regional
economic history, health economics, and public finance. His recent
policy research has explored economic performance and institutions
in Northwestern Ontario and the central North American economic
region. His research has been funded by grants from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Livio Di Matteo
also comments on public policy and his articles have appeared in the
Financial Post, the Winnipeg Free Press, the Hamilton Spectator, the
Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and the Thunder Bay Chronicle-
Journal.

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an independent, non-profit organization

that undertakes research and education in support of economic growth and social
outcomes that will enhance the quality of life in our communities. Through a variety
of publications and public forums, the Centre explores policy innovations required to
make the eastern prairies region a winner in the open economy. It also provides new
insights into solving important issues facing our cities, towns and provinces. These
include improving the performance of public expenditures in important areas like local
government, education, health and social policy. The author of this study has worked
independently and the opinions expressed are therefore his own, and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the board of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Copyright © 2009 by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Date of First Issue: May, 2009.
Reproduced here with permission of the authors.
ISSN 1491-78

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POLICY SERIES
I deas for
FCPP POLICY a better
SERIES tomorrow
NO. 60 • MAY 2009

FCPP Policy Series No. 60 • May 2009

Growing Heartlandia

By Livio Di Matteo
Profesor of Economics
Lakehead University

Table of Contents
Introduction 5
Regions, Borders, and the Canada-U.S. Border 6
Heartlandia’s Dimensions and Economic Potential 9
Institutional Format: What Do We Do Next? 12
Organizing Heartlandia 13
Conclusion 15
Appendix 16
Sources and Endnotes 17

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Introduction
Despite the current period of global uncer-
tainty and economic up-heaval, the time
may be ripe to consider innovations in
trade and cross-border relations. There is
growing interest in the Great Plains and
western Great Lakes regions of the United
States and Canada for the concept of
Heartlandia, an economic region straddling
the middle of the North American
continent – a North American central
economic region spanning Northwestern
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North
and South Dakota and Minnesota.1 There
is growing recognition that a more formal
approach to cross-border cooperation
could bring about real improvements in
the economy of this region and ultimately
the quality of life. The concept of a formal
cross-border regional framework is already
well established on the west coast of
North America with the Pacific Northwest
Economic Region (PNWER).
Canada is best described as a set of
politically linked regions united by a
common trading partner – that once
was Great Britain, but now is the United
States, which takes 80 percent of
Canada’s exports. The United States has
a large population distributed in nodes
throughout its territory interconnected
via a dense network of transport corridors
much like interlocking wheels and spokes
thus facilitating internal commerce. At the
same time, Canada is the United States’
largest trade partner and not China, Japan
or Mexico.2 Canada, on the other hand
is sparsely populated with its population
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strung out along the border in a line
of isolated clusters making it easier to
interact with Americans across the border
than with each other across provincial
boundaries.
Regions and their cities are critical compo-
nents of economic activity. An economic
region is a spatial agglomeration of econo-
mic production and consumption activity
defined by its locational advantages, trans-
action costs and market size. As Anderson
(1990: 2) writes:
“The concentration and specialization of
economic activity in different locations
and variations in returns to factors of
production imply that different regions
will possess different economic charac-
teristics.” While the organization of
activity may define an economic region,
sometimes one can also delimit the
boundaries of a region because of the
availability of statistical information
or because a collection of political
units may share common economic
problems and opportunities. However,
regions, “however delimited, are always
interdependent parts of the larger spatial
economy in which they are embedded.”3
As well, the traditional notion of clusters of
development focused on firms, resources
and government sharing support and infra-
structure in a region is being accompanied
by the new concept of the “networked
region”. While basing substantial parts of
their operations in one location, firms are
also relocating separate operations such
as research, development and production
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“The concentration and specialization of economic
activity in different locations and variations in returns
to factors of production imply that different regions will
possess different economic characteristics.”
to different locales based on their cost
and resource advantages but linked via
high tech and communications technology
to function as a single entity. Therefore,
regions that are sufficiently networked into
global opportunities will have the ability
to reap the benefits of employment and
output activity. Research, development
and commercialization can be spread
across the world via a network of hubs
and nodes of activity that do not need
to be linked by geographic proximity.4
In bio-tech, for example, local firms,
local researchers and the local medical
sector can develop partnerships with
international pharmaceutical companies
and international research agencies to
locate some product development and
testing facilities in places like North
Dakota or Northwestern Ontario. As Yali
and Seline (2005) wrote:
“The concept that a region must
have all the elements to support life
“
sciences research, development and
commercialization no longer reflects
industry dynamics. This changing
paradigm leads us to suggest that
regions must decide if their local
assets and critical mass compose a
hub (the core location providing
momentum for development) or a
node (a significant contributor to a
national or international hub).”
Within North America, there are also
opportunities for networked cross-
border economic regions that share
infrastructure and production facilities.
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– F. J. Anderson (1990)
Heartlandia, which spans Northwestern
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North
and South Dakota and Minnesota, with a
history of cross-border trade, travel and
interaction originally rooted in the days of
the fur-trade and agricultural settlement,
can be a source of such opportunities.
Yet, despite this critical interdependence,
governments with fixed territorial
boundaries do not always effectively
address the need for cross-border regional
economic partnerships and co-operation.
Some cross-border regional issues can
be dealt with using models of functional
governance that link collaborative partners
on specific issues or interests rather than
more rigid and hierarchical territorial
governance structures.5
The remainder of this paper explores the
impact of borders in a regional economy,
establishes the economic dimensions of
Heartlandia and examines the institutional
possibilities for creating a more formal
structure for the region.
Regions that are sufficiently
networked into global
opportunities will have
”
the ability to reap the
benefits of employment
and output activity.
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Borders are places where different cultures, institutions and
arrangements come into contact and are therefore zones of
opportunity...
Regions, Borders and the
Canada-U.S. Border
International borders are “invisible, vert-
ical planes that transect the airspace, the
soil and the subsoil between adjoining
states, and they mark the limit of terri-
tory in which a state can exercise its
sovereign authority” (Timothy 1995:
525). A border is an institution and
institutions are the arrangements that
people have for dealing with one another.
Nobel laureate Douglass North (1981:
201) asserts that “Institutions provide
the framework within which human
beings interact” and that they are “sets
of rules, compliance procedures and
moral and ethical behavioural norms
designed to constrain the behaviour of
individuals.” Political-economic systems
are institutional arrangements and borders
separate such systems and provide zones
of formal contact and interaction. Borders
are institutional devices that assert and
enforce property rights by a nation-state
over a set geographic space. Given that
borders separate differing institutional
spaces, it is to be expected that economic
behaviour as well as other types of behav-
iour will differ across borders.6 At the
same time, borders are places where
different cultures, institutions and arrang-
ements come into contact and are there-
fore zones of opportunity.
An extensive literature has developed on
borders and it has influenced economics,
geography and tourism research. This
literature has grown given the global
institutional changes that have been
occurring with respect to international trade
agreements as well as national integration
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and disintegration. As Leimgruber (1988: 53)
wrote:
“The study of boundaries has become
very popular with human geographers in
the past few years, and this popularity
seems to be increasing as the date of the
final abolishment of boundaries within
the EC approaches (1992).”
The establishment of free trade zones and
agreements such as the North American
Free Trade Agreement and the Canada-
U.S. Free Trade agreement also creates an
interest in borders and their impact.7
Some economists have argued that the
establishment of regional trading blocs
makes the impact of borders less impor-
tant for international trade. However,
John McCallum (1995) estimates a model
of trade between Canada and the United
States and finds that even “the relatively
innocuous Canada-U.S. border continues
to have a decisive effect on continental
trade patterns” and that this suggests
that “national borders in general continue
to matter.” In another study, Engel and
Rogers (1996) examine the importance
of borders and distance on price volatility
using Canada and the United States and
again find that distance and the presence
of the border are significant in explaining
price dispersion across different locations.
Engel and Rogers (1995: 1123) conclude
that their results also confirm McCallum’s
that “despite the relative openness of the
U.S.-Canadian border, the markets are still
segmented.”
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Canada is relatively sparsely populated with most of its
population strung out along the border in a series of
isolated population islands...

With respect to tourism, boundaries are

often seen as a barrier to interaction
given the formalities that often need to
be observed when crossing but at the
same time they may be regarded as
lines of contact (Timothy 1995: 531). A
border creates a destination by creating
a demarcation line to new opportunities.
Borders can create different economic and
social spaces which spawn the diversity
that fuels travel and ultimately trade.
Moreover, crossing the border itself can
be regarded as a tourist attraction as
travellers sometimes cross borders “for
the sole reason of being able to claim,
for reasons of prestige, that they have
been in a foreign country” (Timothy 1995:
527). In the case of tourism, boundaries
between different countries can have
different functions, which can be listed as
a barrier to tourism, as a destination area,
as modifiers of the tourist landscape and
as transit zones (Timothy 1995b).
Boundaries are elements of the cultural
landscape and the boundary between
Canada and the United States lies at one
extreme of the spectrum of demarcated
boundaries being a particularly well-
travelled and, until the post 9/11 era, a
relatively easy-to-cross border where fairly
similar societies meet. The Canada-U.S.
border is approximately 4,000 kilometers
long with 116 official border-crossing
points. As Prescott (1965: 93) wrote:
“Here the boundary vistas are carefully
cut and the boundary monuments kept
in good repair even on the more remote
western borders. This is largely for
reasons of administrative convenience,
and not to restrict circulation. Structures
to allow the application of state functions
are located at the important recognized
crossing points. Along such boundaries
there is often an absence of permanent
fortifications. At the opposite end of
the scale there are those boundaries
between unfriendly states where the
boundary demarcation is maintained
in order to prevent circulation and to
simplify defence.”
The border between Canada and the
United States also marks off two different
geographic distributions of population,
which also influences interaction
between the two countries. The U.S.
population is distributed in large dense
nodes throughout its territory each
interconnected to the other via a dense
network of roads and transport corridors
much like interlocking wheels and spokes.
Canada, on the other hand is relatively
sparsely populated with most of its
population strung out along the border in
a series of isolated population islands. As
one famous Canadian author8 put it:
“On the map Canada looks square;
in reality we are another Chile, with
nine-tenths of our people living within

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The PNWER provides a forum to address important cross-border
issues in trade, transportation, environment and energy...
two hundred miles of your border, an
archipelago of population islands walled
off from each other by the terrifying
obstacles of Precambrian rock, muskeg,
mountain barriers, storm-tossed waters.”
This distribution of population suggests
that Canadians will often find it easier to
interact with Americans across the border
than with each other across interprovincial
boundaries as opposed to Americans who
have a much denser internal market for
trade and travel. Indeed, using Canada-
U.S. cross-border travel as an example,
there are variations both east-west as well
as north-south.9 Canadians are generally
more likely to cross the border into the
United States than Americans are into
Canada.
The concept of cross-border regions in
North America is not new. Garreau’s
Nine Nations of North America describes
cross-border regions that share similar
economic, social and cultural character-
istics. As well, there are concepts for
other cross-border economic regions
such as Cascadia on the west coast and
Atlantica on the east coast. Atlantica
is more formally known as the Atlantic
International Northeast Economic Region
(AINER) and is currently the focus of
advocacy and research on the part of the
Atlantic Institute for Market Studies based
in Halifax and the Eastern Maine Advocacy
Corporation.10 The AINER concept comp-
rises the Canadian Atlantic provinces as
well as Maine, Vermont and the northern
part of New York State bordering Lake
Ontario.
Cascadia is being operationalized by
a government funded cross-border
advocacy group initiative known as the
Pacific Northwest Economic Region or
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PNWER.11 PNWER defines a region of the
Pacific northwest that includes British
Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon, Alaska,
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and
most recently Saskatchewan, with a total
population of about 20 million people.
The PNWER provides a forum to address
important cross-border issues in trade,
transportation, the environment and
energy before they progress to formal
international processes. The 18th annual
summit of the PNWER was held in
Vancouver in July 2008 and discussions
focused on marketing the Pacific northwest
in advance of the Vancouver Olympics,
trade and travel across the Canada-U.S.
border and opportunities surrounding
the Mackenzie Valley and Alaska Natural
Gas pipelines.12 It should be noted that
PNWER has a charter that proposed a
Border Solutions Coordination Council that
would meet semi-annually as well as a
Border Policy Research Institute and has
established a variety of working groups.
Meanwhile, Ontario and its adjacent U.S.
counterparts also constitute an economic
region resulting in substantial cross-border
economic and environmental co-operation
given the sharing of the Great Lakes basin.
There are frequent meetings of the Great
Lakes premiers, governors and mayors
though a formal regional framework has
yet to be established. Recent research
has also explored alternate institutional
arrangements and border configurations
between Ontario and Manitoba focusing on
the natural linkages between Manitoba and
Northwestern Ontario.13
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Heartlandia covers 2.4 million square kilometers with a
population of nearly 9 million people...

Heartlandia’s Dimensions and

Economic Potential
This proposal for a North American central
economic region termed Heartlandia sets
the regional components as Northwestern
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan North
and South Dakota and Minnesota – a
region that is at the cross-roads of the
North American continent. It essentially
comprises primarily the north-central
portion of Garreau’s “Breadbasket
Nation”14 thus excluding, Wisconsin,
Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas portions.
(See Appendix 1, Pg. 16). While Heart-
landia could be expanded to include these
areas, as a starting point, the analysis of
the concept at this stage can minimize
transaction costs by keeping the number
of partners manageable. Indeed, the most
tractable starting point would likely be
simply considering Manitoba and North
Dakota though realization of greater reg-
ional potential requires a broader range of
geographic partners.
Heartlandia covers 2.4 million square
kilometers with a population of nearly 9
million people and a GDP (US$) of about
405 billion dollars (See Table 1). This
economic region contains agricultural
production activities, food processing,
forestry, petroleum, potash, uranium,
coal, mineral and hydroelectric resources
as well as substantial manufacturing and
service capacity. In terms of employment
composition, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and
Northwestern Ontario are more resource
intensive compared to their American
counterparts while Minnesota, Manitoba
and North Dakota are relatively manufact-
uring intensive compared to the rest of
Heartlandia (See Table 2, next page).
The recent rise in commodity, food and
energy prices is an indication of the stra-
tegic importance of Heartlandia in the
long run. As well, the major metropolitan

Table 1. Basic Dimensions of Heartlandia

Population GDP Area GDP Per Capita

(billions $)* (kmsq) (US $)

Saskatchewan 1,020,747 40.7688 652,330 39,940

Manitoba 1,186,700 40.68 647,797 34,277

North Dakota 635,867 27.73 183,112 43,602

South Dakota 781,919 33.93 199,905 43,398

Minnesota 5,167,101 254.97 225,171 49,345

NW Ontario 235,046 6.90 ** 527,372 29,359

Heartlandia 9,027,380 405 2,435,687 39,987

* In US dollars. 1 Cdn$ = 0.80 US. ** Estimate based on Di Matteo (2004).

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Winnipeg, Manitoba is particularly strategically located at the
hub of an array of transportation corridors and routes...
centres of Minneapolis-St. Paul and
Winnipeg are already locations for numer-
ous corporate head offices, health, educa-
tional, research and government services.
In addition, Heartlandia contains vital
road, rail and airport hubs that would
be complemented by three ocean-going
ports: Churchill, Duluth, and Thunder Bay
as well as the Mississipi route down to the
Gulf of Mexico (See Appendix 2, Pg. 16).
Indeed, Winnipeg, Manitoba is particularly
strategically located at the hub of an array
of transportation corridors and routes that
includes the Asia-Pacific Gateway, the
North American Super Corridor Coalition
and the Great-Lakes St. Lawrence Sea-
way.15 Recognition of this has sparked
developments regarding the intermodal
inland container port transportation
concept known as Centreport.16
The similarities and geographic proximity
of the provincial and state economies
of this region create a conjunction of
common interests and possibilities for
economic trade and growth growth.
For example, Manitoba has abundant
hydroelectric resources and would
benefit from increased exports through
Table 2. Employment Composition (%)
N Dakota S Dakota
Manufacturing 7.1
Resources, Mining 6.9
& Construction
Business, Trade, Transport 35.2
& Finance
Other (eg Health, Education, 50.8
Government, Other Services)
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additional power contracts south to meet
growing American power needs. Despite
the current recession, given long-term
trends in energy prices, Heartlandia has
the potential to be a 21st century energy
export giant rooted in agricultural and
forest bio-fuels and hydro-electricity. In
particular, the potential of Northwestern
Ontario as a forest bio-refining energy
center and hydroelectric producer
would be enhanced with the sharing of
expertise with Saskatchewan, Manitoba
and Minnesota. Another specific example
of economic interests coinciding is the
aerospace program at the University of
North Dakota and the fact that Winnipeg
is a center of aerospace manufacturing.
As well, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and
Minnesota both provide large adjacent
markets for goods and services for firms
in North and South Dakota.
Indeed, Heartlandia is already linked
by substantial cross-border trade rela-
tionships. Canada is the most important
destination for exports from Minnesota,
North and South Dakota. In 2008, Canada
took 29% of Minnesota’s exports, 51%
of North Dakota’s and 34% of South
Minn Manitoba NW Ont Sask
10.4 12.1 10.4 9.3 5.8
5.7 4.3 13.3 12.8 22.1
34.3 37.4 35.8 32.0 33.2
49.5 46.2 40.6 46.0 39.0
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Northwestern Ontario is dependent on the United States with
over 90% of its exports destined for that market...

Table 3. Recent Employment Statistics

Employment (000s) Unemployment Rate (%)

Saskatchewan 517.5 5.6

Manitoba 605.9 4.0

North Dakota 359.5 3.5

South Dakota 430.2 3.0

Minnesota 2,764.7 5.8

NW Ontario 101.4 8.2

Heartlandia 4,160.3 5.0

Sources Tables 1-3: Census of Canada, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Bureau of Labour
Statistics, Government of Manitoba. Canadian employment composition statistics are from the 2006
Census. GDP statistics are for 2007. Employment levels and unemployment rates are for 2008.

Dakota’s.17 Meanwhile, Manitoba, of their firms might benefit from setting

Saskatchewan and Northwestern Ontario
are even more dependent on the American
market. In 2006, about 77% of Manitoba’s
exports were to the United States while
two-thirds of Saskatchewan’s exports were
to the United States.18 Northwestern Ontario
is even more dependent on the United States
with over 90% of its exports destined for
that market.19
As a further example of common economic
interests, Minnesota, Manitoba and
Saskatchewan have had robust growth and
relatively tight labour markets and some
up operations in nearby Northwestern
Ontario where there is currently highly
skilled surplus labour and capacity due
to the forest crisis and its effects on
the unemployment rate (See Table 3).
Moreover, recent economic development
initiatives announced for northeastern
Minnesota could also provide opportunities
for Northwestern Ontario firms.20 As well,
improvements to the highway, road and
border-crossing network in Heartlandia
could also generate benefits for increased
regional partnerships.

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PNWER welcomed Saskatchewan into the group making PNWER
a region with 20 million people...
Institutional Format: What Do we Do Next?
The PNWER Example
The Pacific Northwest Economic Region
(PNWER) provides an excellent template
on which to begin organizing Heartlandia’s
activities as an economic region. The
organization has been performing activ-
ities for 18 years, the highlight of which
is their annual meeting. In the words of
PNWER:
“The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region
(PNWER) is a region-al U.S.-Canadian
forum dedicated to encouraging
global economic competitiveness and
preserving our world-class natural
environment. PNWER is recognized by
both the United States and Canada as
the “model” for regional and bi-national
cooperation because of its proven
success. PNWER is a respected voice and
resource for our region, and provides
the public and private sectors a cross-
border forum for unfiltered dialogue that
capitalizes upon the synergies between
business leaders and elected officials
who work to advance the region’s global
competitiveness.”21
At their July 2008 meeting, PNWER
welcomed Saskatchewan into the group
making PNWER a region with 20 million
people with a combined output of $700
billion U.S.
PNWER is governed by a bi-national
executive committee consisting of a
core of President, four Vice-Presidents,
and an immediate past-president that is
supplemented by a set of past presidents,
politicians and several private sector
members for a total of 19 executive
members. This large executive maintains
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representation from all of the constituent
provinces, territories and states, which
now total nine.22 There are two councils
that provide a representative membership
for the organization. There is a Delegate
Council of representatives from provincial,
territorial and state governments that
includes premiers, governors and design-
ated alternates. There is a Private
Sector Council of representatives from
the business community, which again
are spread across the nine constituent
members with Canadian and U.S. Chairs/
Co-Chairs.23
There is an Executive Director that
maintains the administrative operations
of the organization dealing with records,
statistics and statutes, and supervises a
staff of eight that provides the manpower
to drive initiatives and activities. The
responsibilities of the staff are instructive
and provide a quick overview of the
activities that PNWER is engaged in.
Along with Chief Executive and Operating
Officers, there is an Energy Project
Director, A Tourism Program Manager,
a Homeland Security Coordinator, an
Innovation Network and Workforce
Development Program Coordinator, and
the Director of A Centre for Regional
Disaster Resilience. These staff help
organize and maintain a number of
working groups dealing with specific
regional issues: tourism, agriculture,
border issues, energy, environment,
forestry, healthcare, high tech, homeland
security, invasive species, sustainable
development, telecommunications, trade
and economic development, transpor-
tation, water policy and workforce
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Developing a regional vision and set of common statistics that
could be used to lobby both federal governments could also have
long-term benefits...
development. PNWER also maintains
regional news feeds, trade and economic
statistics and is about to begin putting
together a Border Policy Institute to
mobilize research on border issues. Most
recently, PNWER has endorsed a Border
Charter that provides a document listing
action items and designed to start work on
a cross-border animal health conference,
Organizing Heartlandia
This economic region requires a sense of
common vision in order to grow and pros-
per during the 21st century. Leaders in
this region need to facilitate cross-border
commerce and activity in the areas of
cross-border employment and business
opportunities, better relationships between
producers and suppliers, improving cross-
border transportation infrastructure,
cross-border environmental and nature
conservation, and tourism promotion.
Institutionalizing a regular set of meetings
as has been done in the Pacific Northwest
would be a good beginning. Furthermore,
developing a regional vision and set of
common statistics that could be used to
lobby both federal governments could also
have long-term benefits particularly when
it comes to border issues that threaten the
role of the border as a zone of interaction.
How do we ensure that the border remains
a zone of contact, interaction and opport-
unity that facilitates commerce and travel?
How do we study border issues in a focus-
ed and objective fashion and then use
the research to set priorities and pursue
action?
A possible formal framework for the
implementation of Heartlandia requires
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working on steps to ensure a welcoming
border experience in anticipation of the
2010 Winter Olympics, creating a Pacific
Coast utility alliance, starting discussion
of student exchange and transfer of
academic credit amongst the region’s
universities and creating a Border Health
alliance to deal with public health care
preparedness.
the participation of government, business
and the community in an organization
that could provide some direction – for
example, a Council or a Directorate. The
functions of such a Directorate would
be to provide a consultative forum via
regular meetings and sketch out general
directions. The broad functions of the
Directorate would be issue identification,
goal setting and prioritization and resource
mobilization for issue resolution. At the
government level, the logical members
and participants are representatives
of municipal, state, provincial and
national governments as well as First
Nations. At the business level, the logical
participants are individual businesses
and trade associations such as Chambers
of Commerce. At the community level,
interested parties and participants
could include community and cultural
organizations, post-secondary institutions
and public interest groups. The region’s
post-secondary institutions may wish to
pool their strengths in creating research
networks with applied industrial spin-offs.
The role of the Heartlandia Directorate
will be two-fold: first, it will serve as
the general steward and advocate of
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Directorate as a tree: with the membership as the base, a board,
executive and secretariat as the trunk, and the various activities
and task forces as the branches and leaves.

visions for the economic development of
Heartlandia and second, it will research,
implement and manage projects and
activities beneficial to the regional
economy. The general organizational
structure of Heartlandia could consist of a
consultative forum for the representation
of economic interests, a board and
executive selected from the consultative
forum and a secretariat that provides the
administrative support data collection for
the activities of the Directorate. Think of
the Directorate as a “tree” (See Figure 1)
with the membership as the base, a board,
executive and secretariat as the trunk, and
the various activities and task forces as
the branches and leaves. Funding for the
activities of this Directorate would come
in the form of membership dues from
participants as well as contributions from
provincial, state and federal governments.
Among some of the possible activities
would be thematic tourism marketing
of the region – perhaps a “Breadbasket
Theme”, cross-border taxation and
regulatory issues, the facilitation of cross-
border travel24 and commerce, natural
resource and agricultural research,
transportation infrastructure.

Figure 1
TAXATION AND
REGULATORY ISSUES

TOURISM AND
TRANSPORTATION
MARKETING

AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ENERGY AND
BIO-ECONOMY

BOARD, EXECUTIVE,
SECRETARIAT

CONSULTATIVE
FORUM

MEMBERS, PARTICIPANTS,
STAKEHOLDERS, INTERESTS

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“
A cross-border institutional framework for Heartlandia would
identify issues, set goals and priorities...
Conclusion
The time is ripe to consider an economic
region straddling the middle of the North
American continent – a North American
central economic region spanning North-
western Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan,
North and South Dakota and Minnesota
termed Heartlandia. This cross-border
region shares common economic interests,
is a cluster of human, natural and capital
resources, and is strategically position-
ed at the heart of the North American
continent at a nexus of trade and
transportation corridors. Key immediate
priorities for this region involve research
and industrial partnerships, common
tourism marketing and steps to reduce
congestion and streamline border flows of
legitimate trade and travel.
GROWING HEARTLANDIA
FCPP POLICY SERIES NO. 60 • MAY 2009
”
The next step is for interested parties and
stakeholders to come together to establish
a formal framework. The precedent
for such a framework of cross-border
functional governance already exists with
the Pacific-Northwest Economic Region
which has been developing over almost
twenty years. A cross-border institutional
framework for Heartlandia would
identify issues, set goals and priorities,
and proceed to mobilize resources for
addressing opportunities. The first steps
towards a regional vision are already
occurring. Indeed, the city of Winnipeg’s
recent decision to change its city slogan
from “One Great City” to “Heart of the
Continent” may be a harbinger of things
to come”.25
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Appendix I: Joel Garreau’s Nine Nations of North America

Source: http://www.harpercollege.edu/~mhealy/g101ilec/namer/nac/
nacnine/na9intro/nacninfr.htm

Appendix 2: Heartlandia as a Transportation Cross-Roads

Source: http://winnipeginlandport.ca/centre_port_canada.htm

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SOURCES

1. F.J. Anderson (1990), Regional Economic Analysis: A Canadian Perspective

(Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich).
2. P. Berton (1986), Why We Act Like Canadians, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto.
3. S.W. Boggs (1966), International Boundaries – A Study of Boundary Functions and Problems,
AMS Press, New York.
4. S. Coe (2006), Regions and Economic Development Policies: A Comparative Perspective.
Working Paper, November, Local Government Institute, University of Victoria.
5. L. Di Matteo and R. Di Matteo (1996), “An Analysis of Canadian Cross-Border Travel”, Annals of Tourism
Research, Vol. 23 ( 1), pp. 103-122, 1996.
6. L. Di Matteo (2004), An assessment of the Economic Impact of an Aging Workforce in Northwestern
Ontario Using Survey-Based Data (2004). Prepared for the North Superior Training board and the
Northwest Training and Adjustment Board.
7. L. Di Matteo, J.C.H. Emery and R. English (2006), Is it better to live in a basement, an attic or to get
your own place? Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Institutional Change for Northwestern Ontario,
Canadian Public Policy, 32(2), 173-196.
8. C. Engel and J.H. Rogers (1996), How Wide is the Border? American Economic Review, Vol. 86 (5),
pp. 1112-1125.
9. Friedman, Yali and Richard Seline (2005), “Cross-border biotech”, Nature Biotechnology, 23, 6, June,
656-657.
10. J. Garreau (1981), The Nine Nations of North America (Boston: Hougton Mifflin).
11. Global Hubs and Global Nodes: A White paper on new paradigms in regional development (2005),
New Economy Strategies LLC, Washington D.C.
12. J. McCallum (1995), “National Borders Matter: Canada-U.S. Regional Trade Patterns”, American Economic
Review, Vol. 85(3), pp. 615-623, 1995.
13. D.C. North (1981), Structure and Change in Economic History, W.W. Norton and Company, New York.
14. J.R.V. Prescott (1965), The Geography of Frontiers and Boundaries, Hutchinson University Library,
London.
15. J.R.V. Prescott (1987), Political Frontiers and Boundaries, Allen and Unwin, London.
16. C. Rolfsen (2008), “Energy, Olympics on table at regional summit”, Vancouver Sun, July 21.
17. G.D. Taylor (1994), “The implications of Free Trade Agreements for Tourism in Canada,”
Tourism Management, Vol. 15(5), pp. 315-318.
18. D.J. Timothy (1995), “Political boundaries and tourism: borders as tourist attractions”,
Tourism Management, Vol. 16 (7), pp. 525-532.

ENDNOTES

1. The Canada-US Economic Summit held in Grand Forks in October 2008 is an example of the move
towards cross-border economic cooperation. See also Tom Dennis, “Cross-border council could spur
growth,” Grand Forks Herald, November 16, 2008; Doreen Yellowbird, “Prairie Voices-Call it Heartlandia”
Grand Forks Herald, November 15, 2008 and Livio Di Matteo, “Centre of Continent Needs Economic
Union,” Winnipeg Free Press, January 13, 2008.
2. Source: United States International Trade commission.
See http://dataweb.usitc.gov/scripts/cy_m3_run.asp
3. F. J. Anderson (1990: 3).
4. See Global Hubs and Global Nodes (2005).
5. See Coe (2006).
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ENDNOTES Cont’d.

6. For additional references on borders and frontiers, see Prescott (1965, 1987) and Boggs (1966).
7. See Taylor (1994).
8. Pierre Berton (1986: 97-98)
9. Regional differences in cross-border travel behavior by Canadians going into the United States are
examined in Di Matteo and Di Matteo (1996).
10. See www.atlantica.org.
11. See http://pnwer.org/. See also Coe (2006: 10).
12. See Rolfsen (2008).
13. Di Matteo, Emery and English (2006).
14. Garreau (1981).
15. See Literature Review of “Gateways” Emergence of Inland Container Ports Evolving Trade Patterns in
Canada, Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, January 2009.
16. See the Mayor’s Trade Council Report, Winnipeg-Canada’s Global Center for Trade; Centreport Canada
Inc, presentation by the HonourableRon Lemieux, Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation to the
Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, January 27, 2009 and Centreport Canada.
http://winnipeginlandport.ca/centre_port_canada.htm
17. U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics.
See www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/state/data/index.html
18. TD Economics Financial Outlook, January 10, 2008, p.2.
19. Literature Review of “Gateways” Emergence of Inland Container Ports Evolving Trade Patterns in
Canada, Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, January 2009, p.8.
20. Under the Minnesota Job Opportunity Building Zones (JOBZ) program, 34 communities, 58 sub-zones
on 3,271 acres across northeastern Minnesota have been given this special designation which provides
tax free business opportunities. Tax exemptions include state income tax for operators or investors,
property tax on commercial and industrial improvements, state and local sales tax on goods and
services purchased, state corporate franchise taxes, wind energy production tax and employment tax
credits for high paying jobs. See http://www.irrrb.org/business/ssf/jobz
21. http://www.pnwer.org/
22. Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Washington, Oregon. Idaho, Montana, Alaska.
23. The 2008 Border Charter established a framework for private sector representation. One represent-
ative shall be selected from each PNWER jurisdiction to represent the private sector on the PNWER
Executive Committee:
· Appointments shall be for a two-year renewable term;
· Appointees shall be expected to have broad general knowledge of and represent the interests
of the overall private sector and shall not represent any particular interest group, constituency or
position;
· Representatives shall be expected to be available for bi-weekly teleconference of the Executive
Committee; for periodic teleconferences or meetings of the Private Sector Council; and to attend the
Annual Summit and Winter Meeting of PNWER;
· Representatives should have the ability to mobilize other private sector participants and generally
foster enhanced involvement in and support for PNWER activities;
· Representatives will be expected to enjoy the support, both morally and financially, of their
employer/organization for their involvement in PNWER at this level.
24. Smooth transitions for border commerce is a constant and growing issue. See Alan Gotleib, “We need
borders without boundaries,” The Globe and Mail, April 2, 2009.
25. For the CBC news story on Winnipeg’s change see:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/09/05/wpg-sign.html

For more see

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