Newfoundland and Labrador is sometimes mistakenly called a Maritime province, but it is not. (It can be called part of Atlantic Canada.)
There is occasional talk of Maritime Union, uniting the provinces to have a greater say in national affairs, so far there has been no real progress made, and this is not likely in the near future.
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The industry of the area has long been one dependent upon natural resources. These include fishing, logging ,and pulp and paper. In recent years all three provinces have become major tourist centres, especially PEI. There is little manufacturing in the Maritimes compared with the rest of Canada. Very recently off-shore oil and gas exploration has begun to increase the wealth of the region. The Maritimes has consistently been one of the poorer regions of Canada, and has long received transfer payments from other provinces.
All three provinces are currently governed by the Progressive Conservatives. But Maritime Conservatism has long been very much part of the Red Tory tradition. In recent years the socialist New Democratic Party has made significant inroads both federally and provincially in the region. The Maritimes is generally a very social conservative area, but unlike Alberta it is also quite fiscally socialist. The Canadian Alliance party never had much success in the region, and the fate of the new Conservative Party of Canada in the region is uncertain.
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were two of the original four provinces in the Canadian Confederation while PEI joined a few years later.Economy
Politics
History
The Martimes is one of the first parts of Canada to be settled, first being populated by French immigrants known as Acadians. The area was ceeded to the British, hwoever, who expelled the Acadians and the area is today mostly English, with a significant Francophone population still in New Brunswick.