This Vancouver megaport expansion could harm killer whales. Approving it still didn’t breach endangered species law, court says

The Narwhal
Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood
2025 01 13

“Even since this case was filed and was heard the population has declined further,” Dyna Tuytel, a lawyer with the environmental law charity Ecojustice, said. “This is a really urgent and critical situation.”

In the project’s environmental impact assessment, scientists concluded the expansion will cause environmental impacts that “cannot be mitigated.” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault agreed with this finding, but said the project was “justified” under the circumstances. He approved it in April 2023 as long as it met 370 conditions — the largest number of legally-binding conditions for a project to date.