Close X
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
ADVT 
National

Environmentalists claim 'setback' for species protection in B.C. port expansion case

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 13 Jan, 2025 05:46 PM
  • Environmentalists claim 'setback' for species protection in B.C. port expansion case

A Federal Court judge has thrown out a legal challenge by environmental groups that claimed allowing the expansion of a massive container facility on British Columbia's waterfront would threaten the survival of southern resident killer whales and salmon. 

The David Suzuki Foundation, the Georgia Strait Alliance, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee filed a legal challenge last June against the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project in Delta, B.C. 

They say the federal government's approval of the project wasn't in step with the Species at Risk Act because it will "destroy" a large swath of Chinook salmon habitat, which the endangered killer whales rely on for food. 

The Federal Court dismissed the group's judicial review on Friday, ruling that the decisions by the federal environment minister and the cabinet to allow the project to proceed were reasonable. 

The environmental groups say the port expansion will "jeopardize the whales’ survival and recovery and destroy their critical habitat," and that approving the project skirted requirements to protect at-risk species. 

The federal government argued in court that the conservation groups "fundamentally" misconstrued how the project will be regulated because the decisions did not "shortcut future federal and provincial authorizations" needed for the expansion to happen, including those necessary under at-risk species protection legislation. 

MORE National ARTICLES

US president-elect's son shares post on X of Donald Trump buying Canada on Amazon

US president-elect's son shares post on X of Donald Trump buying Canada on Amazon
U-S president-elect Donald Trump and those in his corner continue to send out strong messages about Canada. In a post on the social media platform X, Eric Trump shared a doctored photo of his father purchasing Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal on Amazon.

US president-elect's son shares post on X of Donald Trump buying Canada on Amazon

Border measures aimed at responding to Trump's tariff threat begin to take effect

Border measures aimed at responding to Trump's tariff threat begin to take effect
Immigration measures announced as part of Canada's border response to president-elect Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariff threat are starting to be implemented, beginning with a ban on what's known as "flagpoling." This is when someone who was in Canada on a temporary visa leaves for the U.S. then quickly re-enters Canada to access immigration services at a port of entry. 

Border measures aimed at responding to Trump's tariff threat begin to take effect

Court rules B.C. law to push through Vancouver housing project is unconstitutional

Court rules B.C. law to push through Vancouver housing project is unconstitutional
The provincial government had adopted the law at the request of the City of Vancouver in 2023 to push through a 12-storey housing development at Arbutus Street, featuring units open to low‑income residents and users of support services.

Court rules B.C. law to push through Vancouver housing project is unconstitutional

YVR janitors suspend strike escalation after tentative deal

YVR janitors suspend strike escalation after tentative deal
Janitors with Local 2 of the Service Employees International Union say they had planned to set up lawful picket lines at undisclosed areas of the airport during the busy travel day.  The 233 cleaners at the airport had been striking at a designated area of the airport since Thursday.

YVR janitors suspend strike escalation after tentative deal

One storm moving inland, two to go, in B.C.'s Christmas week battering

One storm moving inland, two to go, in B.C.'s Christmas week battering
Environment Canada says the first of a series of Christmas week storms forecast for British Columbia's coast is moving inland, after bringing 140 km/h winds to some exposed coastal areas. But there will be no respite for the south coast and Vancouver Island, with a second powerful storm expected to bring very strong winds and heavy rain on Christmas morning.

One storm moving inland, two to go, in B.C.'s Christmas week battering

Tractor crash during protest

Tractor crash during protest
Mounties say a Chilliwack man has been charged with three criminal offences after a crash between a tractor and BC Highway Patrol vehicle during a 2023 protest. They say the 54-year-old was arrested on Dec. 18 and will appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 16, charged with fleeing police, dangerous operation of a vehicle and assaulting a police officer with a weapon.

Tractor crash during protest