Nova Scotia Supreme Court says 2025 woods ban was unreasonable

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court says the 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.

The ban, which came into effect on Aug. 5, 2025, amid ongoing drought conditions, restricted Nova Scotians from entering wooded areas.

Evely, who previously told CTV News Atlantic he goes for walks in the woods near his home to relieve the PTSD he suffered serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, deliberately went into the woods last summer and incurred a $28,000 fine.

During a three-day court hearing last month, Evely’s lawyers argued the provincial government failed to consider Charter Rights when imposing the ban.

“The concept that government provided in this case was to say that human presence itself is a proxy for fire risk; in other words, that people are the problem and that is not a rational argument,” said lawyer Marty Moore, who represented Evely.

“Nor is it a rational argument in a free society and certainly not rational in Nova Scotia where Nova Scotians are some of the kindest and rule following Canadians you are going to meet.”

In a decision released on Friday, Justice Jamie S. Campbell said the declaration imposing the ban was unreasonable, but noted that since it is no longer in force, no further action is required.

“In imposing a travel ban in the woods in Nova Scotia, the Minister was making a decision that at least engaged with and likely limited mobility rights,” the written decision reads. “People could no longer go where they once could. The Minister was required to consider how the decision to impose the travel ban would impact mobility rights.

“The record shows no consideration having been given to that issue.”

The decision also noted the rights of commercial users of the woods were addressed by the government, along with encampments in wooded area.

“But there was no reference to the effect that the travel ban would have on the mobility rights of those who, like Mr. Evely, used the woods for other purposes,” the decision reads.

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Jesse Thomas

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