Networking Among Regions: Ontario and the Four Motors for Europe¹

Abstract

The formation of regional alliances among sub-national governments has become a common feature of Europe in the past decade and a half. However, examples of such alliances spanning the Triad, Europe, North America and Japan, are far less common. In a brief outward-oriented phase in the late 1980s, the Four Motors for Europe expanded abroad and Ontario signed a formal agreement with them, establishing a number of exchanges, as well as a series of more targeted research projects with two of the Motors. The relationship between Ontario and the Four Motors was somewhat unique in terms of its transcontinental reach. This paper analyses the factors which led to the establishment of the alliance and assesses some of the benefits achieved and problems encountered in developing it. It concludes that transatlantic alliances must surmount additional barriers of space and cultural differences to survive and require a strong degree of policy and institutional continuity to ensure they have sufficient time to mature and develop.