Our History
Canada´s Yukon Territory joined PNWER in 1994. In 2008, the PNWER Executive Board voted to have Saskatchewan join PNWER, and in 2009 the PNWER Executive Board voted unanimously to admit the Northwest Territories into PNWER as well, making five Canadian jurisdictions and five American states.Our economy is strengthened by our regional connections, and it was the recognition of the need to build strong partnerships across these borders that first prompted the formation of PNWER.
“PNWER is the gold standard in advancing U.S. - Canada relations.”
The original vision of establishing a collaborative region-wide organization to address common issues and interests was that of former State Sen. Alan Bluechel, Washington. Bluechel grew up in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan and came to the Legislature with a keen sense of the bi-national region now encompassed by PNWER. He was aided in the pursuit of his vision by counterpart Jim Horsman, then Deputy Premier and Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs for Alberta. Bluechel served as PNWER’s first president.
From the beginning, all state and provincial legislators were members of PNWER. The governors and premiers were added to the PNWER governance structure in 1993.
PNWER incorporated official private sector participation – including the non-elective public sector, and nonprofit organizations and NGOs in 1994; with that, a private sector council mirroring that of the organization´s legislative delegate council was established and private and public sector co-chairs became part of the working group structure. Since then, funding for PNWER has been balanced by the public and private sector. The organization is primarily funded through three sources, with approximately one third coming from state and provincial dues, one third from private sector sponsorship and dues, and one third from public and private grants.