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Nova Scotia’s provincewide ban on entering the woods was unreasonable, court rules
Justice Jamie Campbell said the province failed to weigh Charter rights, and the ruling may guide future wildfire restrictions.
- On Friday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell ruled the province's August 2025 woods ban unreasonable, finding it violated mobility rights protected under Section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Premier Tim Houston's government imposed the provincewide ban last August to prevent wildfires during extreme drought, following a 2023 season that forced 22,000 people to flee their homes and businesses.
- Jeffrey Evely challenged the restriction after being fined more than $28,000 for walking in the woods near Sydney, N.S., while Campbell noted the province accommodated commercial users but ignored non-commercial ones.
- The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, represented by Moore, said the group hopes governments "heed this warning, and respect the individual rights of Canadians in their decisions."
- Future emergency restrictions must now balance public safety against Charter mobility rights, as Campbell wrote the original order "may have been justifiable had those rights and values been considered and balanced against government objectives at the time.
41 Articles
41 Articles
Court finds Nova Scotians have a Charter right to walk in the woods and government's $25,000 fines were 'unreasonable'
The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has found the provincial government infringed upon Charter Rights with its woods travel ban last summer. And because it didn’t consider those rights or how it could achieve its goal of preventing new wildfires while infringing upon them in the least possible manner, the woods ban and its accompanying $25,000 fines were “unreasonable.”
The Toronto Star
Nova Scotia’s provincewide ban on entering the woods was unreasonable, court rules
HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia judge has ruled the province’s decision last year to ban most people from entering the woods to prevent wildfires during an extreme drought was unreasonable.
Winnipeg Free Press
Nova Scotia's provincewide ban on entering the woods was unreasonable, court rules
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
Nova Scotia Supreme Court says 2025 woods ban was unreasonable
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled the provincial government’s ban on travel in the woods last summer was unreasonable following a challenge by Cape Breton resident Jeff Evely and the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
Nova Scotia Court Rules Wildfire Woods Ban ‘Unreasonable,’ Cites Charter Concerns
The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has struck down the province’s previous blanket ban on entering the woods during a spate of wildfires last year, holding that the grounds for it were “unreasonable” and failed to properly consider constitutional rights. The April 17 decision from Justice Jamie Campbell held that the ban was overly broad and “limited the mobility rights of Nova Scotians to move freely around the province,” and was therefore deemed…
Last year's decision by the Nova Scotia government to deny most people access to the woods to prevent forest fires during extreme drought was unreasonable, a judge said.
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