New pipeline plans championed by the former central banker turned political figure Mark Carney could push Canada’s critically endangered southern resident orcas closer to extinction, environmental groups have warned. The alarm follows the release of a government discussion paper that proposes exempting major industrial projects from the “jeopardy test” — a key legal safeguard under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) designed to prevent developments from driving protected species into extinction.
Orca under siege
The southern resident killer whales that ply the waters between British Columbia and Washington state number only around 70 individuals, down from more than 200 at the start of the twentieth century. Their survival depends almost entirely on Chinook salmon, a prey species in steep decline due to habitat destruction, dams, overfishing and climate change. The scarcity of Chinook has caused nutritional stress, failed pregnancies and low calf survival rates. Now, increased ship traffic from the existing Trans Mountain pipeline — which terminates near Vancouver — and a new liquefied natural gas terminal further north are compounding the problem with underwater noise pollution that disrupts the orcas’ ability to hunt, navigate and communicate.
“The federal government has acknowledged in its imminent threat determination that these whales face extinction under the existing conditions,” said Misty MacDuffee, a biologist at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “Weakening this safeguard has direct implications for southern resident killer whales and their protection under [SARA].”
The proposed exemption explained
On Friday, Carney announced plans for a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast, with construction expected to begin by autumn 2027. The project is part of a broader push to accelerate fossil fuel infrastructure. But a policy discussion paper titled Getting Major Projects Built in Canada, published by the federal government, has raised fears that Ottawa intends to bypass the legal obligations that protect endangered species.
The paper describes the current process for building mines, ports, airports and pipelines as “slow, expensive, and confusing” and proposes a series of regulatory changes. Central to the controversy is a proposal to exempt “major projects” from the jeopardy test — the provision under SARA that forces regulators to ask whether a project would jeopardise the survival or recovery of a listed species. “In practical terms, this provision is intended to prevent projects from pushing endangered species into extinction,” MacDuffee explained. The proposed reforms aim to make federal review and decision-making for major projects take no more than one year, part of a larger “One Canadian Economy” strategy to align regulatory processes with economic growth.
Environmental law charity Ecojustice said the move “jeopardiz[ed]” Canada’s ability to protect whale habitats. “No project that threatens the extinction of iconic southern resident killer whales and puts communities’ health at risk could be ‘nation building’,” said director Margot Venton. “Increasing tanker traffic in the already busy Salish Sea ups the risk of small and large oil spills and will also increase ocean noise – pushing the critically endangered southern resident killer whales further towards extinction. Experts have been unable to find a way to offset the noise from increasing tanker traffic. These whales cannot handle any more tankers in their habitat.”
These reports could not be further from the truth.
⁰On the contrary, just two weeks ago our government brought forward clear action and ambitious investment in the Spring Economic Update to protect at-risk whale populations, not only on the B.C. coast, but all of Canada’s…— Steven MacKinnon (@stevenmackinnon) May 14, 2026
The discussion paper is open to public comment until 9 June.
Government defence and expert rebuttal
The federal transport minister, Steven MacKinnon, rejected the suggestion that the government was weakening protections. He described the reporting as “could not be further from the truth” and pointed to recent investments of C$91.3 million to address other threats to the southern resident orca population. The government is also increasing the mandatory distance ships must keep from whales from 200 metres to 1,000 metres to minimise physical and acoustic disturbance. “We would not take any actions that would undermine these important strategies and substantial investments,” MacKinnon said in a statement. “Our approach to assessments isn’t about cutting corners, but improving coordination, efficiency, and long-term planning resulting in faster decisions, without weakening oversight or standards.”
Critics argue that while the government has made key promises, it is simultaneously seeking a carve-out by exempting projects of national interest from stringent reviews where endangered species might be affected. “Recovery [of the orca population] requires improvements in habitat quality, including reductions in underwater noise and disturbance,” MacDuffee said. “Weakening the protective provisions of [SARA] to enable projects that worsen these conditions would push southern residents closer to extinction.”
Nature Canada, one of the country’s oldest conservation groups, is urging supporters to contact lawmakers to vote against any fast-tracked legislation, warning it could create zones of “environmental lawlessness”. Director of policy Akaash Maharaj said: “The effort to redefine environmental responsibility as mere ‘red tape’ is dangerously short-sighted. Nature is not an impediment to economic development; environmental assessment is the ‘credit check’ before we write the loan. It is due diligence, fiduciary responsibility, and the only way to build prosperity that endures.”
In the past, endangered species have delayed major projects — a rare hummingbird temporarily halted work on the original Trans Mountain pipeline. Yet the effectiveness of Canada’s species-at-risk laws has been questioned when they clash with lucrative industries. Successive environment ministers have declined to designate Chinook salmon as a species at risk, largely over the implications for the fishing industry. Environmental groups from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Ecojustice, Nature Canada, Stand.earth and Climate Action Network Canada have all condemned the proposed changes, warning that the new pipeline and the regulatory rollback together threaten to push an already iconic and imperilled population over the edge.
