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Ok, so I have heard from a few different people out there that if Canada would stop selling off raw materials and started selling off finsihed product, we would be in a MUCH better position on the world market.

If this were true, what the hell is stopping us? Why are we limiting ourselves and lowering our ability in the world if we can be such higher rollers?

Oh and I am refering to refined oil, finished lumber products, CANADIAN owned slaughter houses....that kinda stuff.


And if us selling off those finished products is infact better....how do we implement such an idea?

   

Simple answer...countries no longer want the finished product,they can do it themselves cheaper. Therefore no market for finished goods!

   

I seeee. If that is the case, then why doesnt Canada do the same thing? Why does it sell its lumber and then buy it back at an inflacte price, losing a significant amount of money in the process?

   

Welcome to Canada Eh!

   

SireJoe, that is why Canada is seen as backwards by many.

   

I suppose so... Doesnt mean we cannot change that. It sure seems like it would produce a lot of good though if it were implemented.

More jobs, more money staying within Canada. More export possibilities, more desire for trades to come to Canada, thus more tax dollars.

I dont really see any overpowering downside to it.

   

Possibly, but Canada will more than likely not do that. She seems to do that a lot through out history. She comes across a good opportunity, but moves along...

   

That's a great idea but.......you need to have a product people will pay for, if you can't find a buyer - what's the use of producing something.
Remember...the customer is always right !

   

Natural resources and raw materials are what is driving our economy right now. We are one of the top nations in the world right now. In fact the one area that's in a decline is manufactured goods. Seems like we're doing the right thing right now.

   

True enough.

But items like lumber and oil, other countries will ALWAYS want. If we stopped selling, or limited selling of the raw product of those, then ultimately those countries would have to buy them finished, no?

I mean, we are some of the top suppliers in those fields for the very simple reason that we HAVE them at our disposal. Thus people really wont have a choice in the matter if we are the only ones that are reliable, uncostly, and one of the only sources out there.

   

As far as lumber is concerned that is a finished product. Of course more can be done with wood, such as cabinets, and furniture making. But finished lumber is a product with high demand. But I can agree with what your saying, we need to add value to more of our resources.

   

Well in regards to lumber, I mean actually cut it down to proper lengths. Have it in 10 foot lengths and such. And not export all the good stuff and leave all the shit here.

   

One of the expanding industries in BC and in particular the north, is remanufacturing sawmills. And they basically are value added mills. The one I worked for sold a lot of high grade finished lumber to Japan, and that is a huge market with good profits. Also finger joint wood is a greatly expanding market. So it's happening, I think one of the problems we face here is our industry gets bought out and they move the manufacturing jobs out of the country yet continue to use us for the raw material.

   

It worse in some industries, especially fish.

Atlantic crab and cod are often sent all the way to China to be processed/packaged, and then returned back to North America for consumption. The cheap and efficient labour outweighs all the expenses of transportation.

   

Thats just crazy to think that the shipping costs LESS than the actual labour in China...hard to believe people could live off of such wages, if we are charging so much more.

   

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