The Vancouver Park Board’s bylaw banning the keeping of cetaceans in captivity is not enforceable because of a contract between the body and the Vancouver Aquarium, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
However, the decision may have little effect; the aquarium announced in January that it will no longer house cetaceans, with the exception of emergency rescue animals and Helen, the Pacific white-sided dolphin.
Helen is the last cetacean housed at the facility, though the aquarium owns several belugas on breeding loans in the U.S.
The Vancouver Aquarium said last month that the outcome of the court case would not change that decision, but it would see the challenge through as a matter of precedent.
However in a statement released Friday, the aquarium appeared to leave the door open to changing that position.
“We are pleased with the decision and that our position has been sustained by the BC Supreme Court,” it said.
“We will need to take the time necessary to review the judgment with our legal counsel and consider the implications it may have on our organization before determining our future course of action.”
The Vancouver Park Board also released a statement following the judgement, saying it was “disappointed,” and that it is reviewing its options and will have no further comment until Parks Commissioners meet next.
The court case was launched by Ocean Wise Conservation Association, the non-profit that runs the Vancouver Aquarium, after the Vancouver Park Board passed a bylaw outlawing captive cetaceans in any city park in May 2017.
In a 46-page decision released Friday, Justice Andrew Mayer did not dispute the board’s power to make bylaws that affect the aquarium.
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Nonetheless, he ruled that the park board bylaw was not enforceable because it conflicted with the board’s 1999 license agreement with the aquarium.
That contract gave the facility the right to operate in Stanley Park and agreed that the board would not interfere in the aquarium’s day-to-day administration.
The term of the contract runs until 2029.
But while the ruling won’t affect the future of cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium, it will mean a financial hit for taxpayers, who will have to pay some of the aquarium’s legal costs, on top of the legal fees for the Victoria law firm the city hired to represent it in the case.
Global News is waiting for comment from the Vancouver Park Board.
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