On May 14, 2016, the government of Canada published a proposed order in the Canada Gazette, Part I, for the protection of critical habitat for the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) population of the beluga whale. While this population of beluga whales is listed as a threatened species on Schedule 1 of the Species At Risk Act (SARA), in 2014 COSEWIC (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), recommended the SLE population be redesignated as endangered.
Under section 58 of SARA, the responsible Minister must make an order (or statement) to protect the critical habitat that has been identified in a recovery strategy or action plan for an endangered or threatened species. The order will, when it comes into force, trigger the prohibition under section 58 against the destruction of any part of the critical habitat of the SLE beluga whale.
The "rationale" for the proposed order indicates,
[T]here are no planned or ongoing activities within the critical habitat of the [SLE population] that would need to be mitigated ... beyond existing federal and provincial legislative or regulatory mechanisms to avoid destruction of any part of the critical habitat. That being said, should any future activities result in the destruction of any part of the critical habitat of [the SLE population], they would be subject to the stringent requirements of SARA triggered through the making of this Order.
This description of current development activity follows a flurry of protest in 2014 related to TransCanada's East Energy pipeline proposal and proposed activities in the area. In April 2014, TransCanada announced it would not proceed to develop a port in the St. Lawrence further to its pipeline proposal.
Environmental organizations in the fall of 2014 went to court and successfully sought an injunction to prevent TransCanada from conducting exploratory work in the St. Lawrence River until after October 15, to avoid a critical period for beluga whale reproduction. Quebec Superior Court Judge Roy granted the injunction, concluding that the Quebec Environment Minister's decision to authorize the work was unreasonable.
Once the Order is in place, it will create additional regulatory requirements for any proposed development that may affect the critical habitat of the SLE beluga population.
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