WATCH: Greens say more value-added manufacturing key to ending Canada's economic reliance on US

NORTH VANCOUVER — The Green Party has called on the federal government to negotiate with the United States from a position of strength, and work to ensure Canada is no longer economically reliant on our southern neighbours.

During a press conference on Friday, leader Elizabeth May, North Vancouver-Capilano candidate Shelley Luce, and former MP-turned-Nanaimo city councillor Paul Manly all argued that instead of exporting raw resources at rock-bottom prices, Canada ought to beef up value-added manufacturing and sell those products instead.

"A win for BC is going to be a halt on exporting raw logs," Luce said. "That is currently a huge burden on our forestry and it is not creating jobs in a sector that really needs help right here in BC."

She noted that shifting to value-added manufacturing would have ecological benefits as well, since trees would be harvested "more selectively."

Luce went on to lament the fact that while Ottawa fights to get American liquor on shelves across Canada, interprovincial trade barriers still make it difficult to obtain BC wine elsewhere in the country.

"We should be standing up for local BC products," she declared. "We could break down those provincial trade barriers to make sure each province is able to build on its strengths and market its products at least within Canada much more effectively."

Her sentiments were shared by Manly, who noted that the exporting of raw logs — at least in many parts of BC — happens under a federal permit.

"The companies that are doing that ... they're exporting over 40% of their harvest as raw material," he continued. "That's under a federal permit and it needs to stop. We need to be doing value-added, we need to be creating jobs here in British Columbia."

Manly pointed out that this is all happening while mill after mill closes its doors.

He then drew attention to LNG Canada and other resource projects owned by foreign multinationals.

"Those projects should be Canadian projects," Manly said. "We've continued on this path where we allow foreign corporations to come and own our resources and extract things without value-added manufacturing, and it’s left us in a vulnerable situation with the United States, where we're dependent on the Americans for exporting raw resources and then importing value-added products."

May accused Premier Eby of not doing enough to protect BC's already fragile forestry sector.

"BC has suffered, and Eby has ignored the threats to our forest products," she said. "They haven't been paying attention, and at the same time, they've been playing the game of shipping fossil fuels out of this province, fracking — which causes more greenhouse gas emissions than coal — and allowing a multinational coalition of Asian and US fossil fuel companies to run what they call LNG Canada. There's nothing Canadian about it."