OTTAWA – The premier of Turks and Caicos is leaving the door open to the prospect of his country joining Canada, even though he has opposed the idea in the past.

But Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird suggests Canadians are dreaming if they think they’ll have a province in the Caribbean any time soon.

Turks and Caicos Premier Rufus Ewing met Prime Minister Stephen Harper today in Ottawa, where he says the two leaders spoke about exploring a more formal relationship.

Ewing referred to the meeting as a “courtship,” but said they did not discuss the possibility of Turks and Caicos becoming Canada’s 11th province.

Even creating closer ties is a long shot, says Baird: the Harper government is not exploring stronger trade and investment, let alone annexing the British colonial territory.

Some provinces, however, appear open to the idea.

While Ewing was in Ottawa, P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz tweeted to Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall that he’d be happy to partner with the Prairie province on the Turks and Caicos project.

Conservative MP Peter Goldring has been pushing the idea for over a decade, saying that Canada needs its own Hawaii.