Emergency Order Sought to avoid a “Bright Extinction” 

Back when the Trans Mountain Pipeline was being approved, it appeared there were a number of things that had to be done for the protection of endangered species from the probable impacts of the project—things that weren’t really within the wheelhouse of the Canadian Energy Regulator. The federal government, anxious to see the project move forward, undertook by way of an Order in Council that it would do those things.  

Fast forward to today: the pipeline is in operation, tanker traffic has begun to increase and those things are still not done.  

It doesn’t help that the tanker route goes right through the critical habitat of endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. The whales are most at risk from ship strikes and noise pollution, but the spectre of oil pollution also looms large. Then there’s the shortage of Chinook salmon, their preferred diet. The government was to have come up with a plan to protect them, complete with baselines, monitoring and assessment for effectiveness, before the pipeline began to operate. 

It isn’t the case that they’ve done nothing; just that nothing they’ve done has been completed or effective in reversing the declining trend in the whales’ numbers. 

Living Oceans and colleague organizations turned to Ecojustice for help. They have filed a petition on our behalf, to the Ministers of Environment and Fisheries, citing the imminent threat to SRKW survival. A previous request, in 2018, was rejected; but the whales’ plight has only increased over that time, while the threats—including TMX and the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project—have only multiplied. 

A “bright extinction” is one that occurs right under our noses, from causes we understand and can control, but don’t. Our aim in filing the petition is to ensure that we don’t let the SRKW become extinct on our watch. 

Learn more about the latest court action.