A B.C.-based quarry company is crying foul over the City of Vancouver's use of basalt stone from a Chinese supplier for the use in the renovation of Granville Street.

The City's plan to gussy up 10 blocks of the busy strip includes more pedestrian-friendly sidewalks that will feature fancy black stone accents.

Nathan Raymond's quarry company, Bedrock Granite Sales, put in a bid of just over $1 million to supply the basalt stone

When the Chinese firm undercut their bid by 40 per cent, the city went with them.

Raymond says local companies just can't compete.

"We recycle our water, even the stone we bring out, we operate on zero per cent waste, even crush into gravel with pits down here. All these things add to costs, and how do you compete when someone's making a dollar a day?" said Raymond.

The economic downturn has already forced him to lay off several employees, now he may have to axe even more.

"We're paying our taxes every year on the product, and all our employees are spending money in the community so it should be our tax money going back to local products," said Raymond.

The organization that represents small business is disgusted by a cash-strapped city buying pricey stones for sidewalks, and thinks it should have used a cheaper product from a local company.

"They should have gone to them and said 'look, rather than this black rock, what else can we get from you? We'll still buy from you support your company'. Buy locally, keep jobs in B.C., and we'll save taxpayers of Vancouver some money," said Brian Bonney of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Vancouver's mayor calls it a tough predicament.

"The City of Vancouver has an ethical purchasing policy, we want to see that be more robust and also look at whether local sourcing can play a stronger role, because keeping the dollars local is only going to strengthen our economy right now," said Gregor Robertson.

It's a balancing act all governments are facing as they try to stimulate the economy while protecting taxpayers at the same time.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Jina You.