Opinion: Trading oil for orcas is a bargain Canada can't afford

According to government sources reported in the media, the jeopardy exemption for the Species at Risk Act has been proposed with the southern residents in mind, writes Margot Venton. Photo by Mark Malleson /Center for Whale Research

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Picture an animal that symbolizes Canada’s West Coast. You’re likely picturing a southern resident killer whale, whose main home is the Salish Sea between Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

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During Orca Action Month, and on World Oceans Day (June 8), the Carney government is expected to table legislation seeking powers to sacrifice any species at risk for any projects and these iconic whales now have a target on their dorsal fins.

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The southern residents are among the best-studied animals in the world. Each individual is identified by unique markings, named and counted in an annual census. They were badly affected by captures for aquariums in past decades. After recovery that peaked in the 1990s, the population began to fall due to not enough chinook salmon, underwater noise that disrupts hunting and communication, and pollution in the Salish Sea. As of the latest official count, only 74 remain. Because they don’t breed with other killer whales, this is a very small and at-risk population. The federal government has confirmed twice that they face “imminent threats” to their survival.

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But the southern residents are far more than these grim statistics. They hold deep cultural and spiritual significance for local First Nations. They’re intensely social animals with a distinct culture and language. They live in matriarchal family units grouped into three extended pods, each carrying its own unique dialect passed down from mothers and close kin to calves. Grandmothers play a vital role, passing down knowledge to younger generations, including foraging skills that directly improve survival. They share food with one another, reinforcing bonds across generations. Their culture also appears in lighter, almost whimsical behaviours, such as wearing salmon as hats, as well as in profoundly sobering acts of grief, including carrying dead calves for days through the water. 

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The Species at Risk Act was passed in 2002 to protect species like the southern residents and to meet Canada’s commitments to protect biodiversity. No government since then has tried to weaken it. The main challenge has been making sure ministers use tools like emergency protection orders and meet deadlines for identifying critical habitat and other steps to protect species, which are chronically backlogged.

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In contrast to the discretionary or proactive provisions in the Act, the no-jeopardy requirement draws a red line against allowing harm. To achieve the Act’s purposes of preventing extinction and providing for recovery, it prevents a minister issuing a permit for a project or activity that will jeopardize a species very survival or its ability to recover.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is proposing that his cabinet be allowed to exempt projects from the no-jeopardy requirement. Carving out an exemption to allow extinction would copy a feature of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, where a committee nicknamed the “God squad” can override extinction protections. Recently, under U.S. President Trump, the “God squad” authorized risking the extinction of rare whale and sea turtles for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.