Mr. Speaker, I am picking up on a question that I asked on World Environment Day, June 5 every year. On June 5, 2024, I asked the government and the Prime Minister how they could reconcile claiming to want to protect the endangered southern resident killer whale while also expanding the activities that we know put the survival of that species at risk. The activities I specifically mentioned were the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is now developed, paid for and owned by the Trans Mountain Corporation, a Crown corporation. This means the people of Canada had to spend $34 billion to expand a pipeline that had not been approved by the first nations over whose territory it crossed.
I note that earlier today, the Minister of Finance claimed that the first nations along the route were compliant, but that does not meet UNDRIP because it sure was not done with free or prior consent. It was often after the fact that the Trans Mountain Corporation, now a Canadian Crown corporation, coerced nations into signing agreements, saying that since they could not stop the pipeline, they might as well sign so it could give them some money. As described by other first nations, this has amounted to economic smallpox, referring to smallpox in blankets in the first wave of colonial settlement on this continent of Turtle Island.
I also noted in my question that the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline has vastly increased the traffic noise of tankers and the risk of tanker accidents involving dilbit, which cannot be cleaned up in a marine environment. In fact, recently, Simon Fraser University found that since the pipeline's completion, the increase in tanker traffic has been tenfold. That is one of the most severe risks to the survival of the southern resident killer whale, and when a spill occurs, the damage to all marine species is incalculable . I also noted in my question that the expansion of the Roberts Bank terminal in the port of Vancouver is a direct threat to the survival of the southern resident killer whale as well as other species, including the western sandpiper.
The response I got from the parliamentary secretary at the time mentioned a number of commitments that I do not think are at all sufficient for the climate crisis, but were not responsive to the fundamental question of how we think we can protect the southern resident killer whale, which the government is bound to do by the Species at Risk Act, while vastly increasing the threats to that very species. When I asked the question on June 5, I referenced that there are only 75 whales left in that population. Since then, the number has declined. We now have 73 southern resident killer whales left.
I want to again thank the local volunteer groups that work so hard on this, particularly the southern Gulf Islands whale sighting network, which keeps a close eye on the number of vessels violating the rules, like recreational vessels coming too close to the whales and commercial vessels violating the interim protocols that were supposed to be created for sanctuaries in the areas of most critical habitat.
To the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to everyone in the government, if there is any concern for the survival of the species, the government has to pay attention to reducing noise, reducing the volume of vessels and prosecuting those who violate the protocols and the distance requirements to save our whales.