Overview
- Premier Tim Houston said the province will not appeal the court decision and would issue a similar ban in a comparable wildfire emergency.
- A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled the provincewide order unreasonable because the government did not consider how it limited Charter rights.
- The decision also faulted vague drafting, noting the definition of “the woods” was so broad it even covered rock barrens such as Peggy’s Cove.
- The case grew from a challenge by Jeffrey Evely, who was fined more than $28,000 for deliberately breaking the ban to trigger a court review.
- Opposition leaders and legal scholars urged narrower, clearly justified measures in future fire seasons, pointing to 2025’s extreme conditions when a major Long Lake blaze later burned thousands of hectares and destroyed about 20 homes.