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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MULLS FURTHER PROTECTIONS FOR ORCAS

Canada may be moving towards matching a U.S. requirement that all boats stay at least 200 metres away from southern resident killer whales.

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Fisheries Minister Dominic Leblanc says scientists attending a symposium on the whales in British Columbia earlier this month made it clear that more needs to be done to protect orcas and to help efforts to boost their numbers.

The whales spend much of their time off the southern coast of B.C. and northern coast of Washington state and fewer than 80 whales remain in the three pods.

Noise from large ships and whale-watching tour boats has been identified as one of the biggest threats to the whales, with experts saying it disturbs their ability to use sound to locate food.

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GOVERNMENT MOVES TO PROTECT RENTERS

A loophole that allowed B.C. landlords to bypass annual rent controls could soon be closed.