A Lower Mainland golf course has come up with a way to improve golf scores 鈥� double the size of the hole, welcome news for those who can get on the green in two, but then knock the ball around for another five or six strokes before sinking it.
The Harper government seems to have taken that same approach by reclassifying humpback whales under the Species At Risk Act, changing their status from 鈥渢hreatened鈥� to 鈥渟pecies of special concern.鈥�
That removes what could be a major legal hurdle for the Northern Gateway pipeline project that would bring Alberta bitumen to Kitimat, resulting in a sharp increase in the number of large vessels that could injure or kill the whales along the West Coast waters.
The change in classification means that the humpback habitat would not be required to be legally protected under the legislation. The fate of the whales was a major issue for many groups during the Northern Gateway hearings last year.
The humpback was listed as threatened in 2005, but the scientific body that made that finding reversed its decision in 2011, concluding that the whale population has grown to more than 18,000. Nevertheless, the species is still at risk.
If the whales鈥� status stands in the way of a project, it鈥檚 a lot easier to change the status than it is to change the project, a little like making the golf hole bigger, rather than improving skills.
The golf course will offer the big holes only on Tuesdays, changing the holes back to normal diameter on the other days.
However, if things don鈥檛 go in the whales鈥� favour, it will be a little harder to change things back. Once a standard has been lowered, it鈥檚 difficult to raise it back up.
