Federal Court to rule on protection for endangered B.C. whales

VANCOUVER — Environmental groups will tell a Federal Court Tuesday that the government must be ordered to protect habitat for endangered and threatened pods of killer whales.

"The problem before the court is what is the federal responsibility for the legal protection of critical habitat," said Ecojustice lawyer Margot Venton.

Venton said Ottawa officials have narrowly interpreted "critical habitat" as only the physical space inhabited by threatened species such as the orca.

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Venton is acting for Ecojustice, formerly the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, and a coalition that includes the David Suzuki Foundation, Dogwood Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund, Raincoast Conservation Society, Sierra Club of Canada and Western Canada Wilderness Committee.