Happy Earth Day, North Pacific humpbacks whales. You're no longer considered a threatened species.
That, at least, is according to the federal government, which on the weekend announced that the Species at Risk Act would be amended to reclassify the whales as a "species of special concern."
Because of the new title, the whale's feeding ground will no longer be subject to habitat protection laws. This will be good news for whale watchers, especially if they are watching from oil tankers as the whales' habitat happens to be right on the shipping lane of bitumen-loaded tankers bound for China should the federal government approve the Northern Gateway Pipeline next month.
It seems, in their slashing of scientists' jobs from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Tories had the foresight to keep at least a few around who are of the opinion that whales can probably learn to dodge tankers.
Unfortunately, this move is part of a systemic dismantling of environmental regulations and protection that might pose stumbling blocks for future pipeline projects. We saw the same thing with the elimination of environmental assessments for bodies of water that don't contain commercial or recreational fisheries.
You can't be accused of breaking any rules if there aren't any rules to break.
We wish we could toast to the whales' bright future after a slow return from the brink following a century of commercial whaling but this change is in name only.
Whether it's for whale oil or oil sands, the humpbacks face very real threats.
