B.C. can never compete in 鈥渄igging dirt out of the ground鈥� with countries that don鈥檛 protect workers or their environment, so it has to use innovation to be globally competitive, says B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver.

Weaver joined B.C. Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston at a Vancouver high-tech company Tuesday to praise the establishment of a 14-member 鈥�,鈥� headed by BCIT president Kathy Kinloch.

The task force was part of the B.C. Green Party鈥檚 platform in the 2017 election, and became a commitment in the minority government agreement with the B.C. NDP.

Weaver and Ralston said Minesense, a company specializing in sensor-based ore sorting to make mines more efficient and productive, symbolized the technological leaps need for B.C.鈥檚 industry.

鈥淭hat means we not only export the dirt, we also export the knowledge, the technology and the value-added products associated with resource extraction,鈥� Weaver said.

The task force includes B.C. Innovation Commissioner, a more permanent addition to the province鈥檚 push to aid new technology businesses. The federal government also has multiple innovation programs, including the recently announced 鈥渟upercluster鈥� group to focus on high technology investment in B.C.

Also named to the B.C. task force are: Jock Finlayson, executive vice president of the Business Council of B.C.; Ragwa Gopal, CEO of Accelerate Okanagan, Iglika Ivanova, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Corrine Stavness, an executive with Canfor.