British Columbia this week unveiled a new push to build ties with Asia and remove barriers to doing business elsewhere in Canada. Both could help it reach the goal of being Cascadia's top gateway.
The Asia Pacific Initiative outlines a series of steps to boost B.C.'s profile in Asia. That's on top of federal dollars to boost trade infrastructure.
Meanwhile an agreement allowing businesses to operate freely between B.C. and Alberta for the first time went into affect this week and could help bolster Vancouver's position for trade. B.C. is already shopping the agreement to other provinces, though there are predictable worries that locking in trade undermines local democracy in the region.