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A walk in the woods isn’t usually a costly affair, but it’s turned out that way for one Cape Breton man.
Jeff Evely deliberately defied a provincially issued ban on going into the woods in 2025 at the height of a particularly active wildfire season.
He was fined more than $28,000 for his defiance.
But that’s only part of the cost, because this week, lawyers for Evely and the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) are appearing before a justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to argue that the woods ban was far too broad and vague.
“The government is not your boss and it is not their place to simply issue these dictates to citizens and make demands on them,” Evely said outside court on Tuesday.
“We live under rule of law so that means the government has to follow the law too, and in this case, it is my opinion that they breached our Charter rights.”
WATCH | Man deliberately violates Nova Scotia’s forest ban in protest:
Man deliberately violates Nova Scotia’s forest ban in protest
There’s been criticism and controversy surrounding measures put in place by the Nova Scotia government to keep people out of the woods amid high temperatures and very dry conditions. A Cape Breton man is protesting the restrictions by violating them and he’s now been slapped with a major fine. Kyle Moore has the story.
Inside court, lawyer Nasha Nijhawan for the CCF said the law didn’t differentiate between someone who might pose a fire risk, like an arsonist, and someone who just wanted to walk their dog along a park path.
Nijhawan said the ban imposed unreasonable and unconstitutional restrictions on people whose private property included some wooded sections.
Evely said his fight isn’t about the previous ban, but about what might come.
“I think this is about the future and the kind of country that we’re leaving for our kids and grandkids,” he said.
“So my hope is that the proclamation will be declared ultra vires and perhaps the government will get some counsel with respect to how they should apply the forest act more properly, while considering people’s basic rights.”
Justice Jamie Campbell is expected to reserve his decision.
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