Overview
- This week the Tsleil‑Waututh Nation applied for a judicial review asking the Federal Court to overturn the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority permit and the Fisheries Act authorization for limited dredging at the Second Narrows.
- The port authority says it has the required federal approvals and had planned to start work as early as September 2026, but the court challenge has introduced near‑term uncertainty for that schedule.
- Project documents show the work would remove roughly 25,000 cubic metres of seafloor material and deepen limited sections up to about six metres to let Aframax oil tankers depart Westridge Marine Terminal closer to full load.
- The Nation says the approvals were rushed, that Ottawa failed to meet its duty to consult, and that deeper loading will raise oil‑spill risk, change shipping patterns, increase shoreline erosion, and worsen cumulative harms to its ability to practise its way of life.
- The dredge is part of wider efforts to boost Trans Mountain export competitiveness toward about 1.2 million barrels per day, so the court case could affect export economics and future west‑coast planning as regulators, industry and the Nation await a legal timetable.