Nova Scotia accused of 'safetyism' after banning entry to woods over wildfire fears

BBC News

6 days ago

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is facing pushback for what some have called "draconian" restrictions as it tries to limit wildfire risk in extremely dry conditions. Last week, Nova Scotia banned all hiking, fishing and use of vehicles like ATVs in wooded areas, with rule breakers facing a C$25,000 ($18,000) fine. A tip line has been set up to report violations.The Canadian Constitution Foundation, a non-profit that defends charter rights in the country, called the ban a "dangerous example of 'safetyism' and creeping authoritarianism".Tens of thousands of residents are under evacuation alerts in eastern Canada as the country experiences its second worst wildfire season on record.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says human activity is responsible for almost all wildfires in the Atlantic province - official statistics from 2009 say 97% of such blazes are caused by people. On Wednesday, he defended the ban, which was announced last week, calling the province a "tinder box" that has not seen any rain since June. "I get that people want to go for a hike or want to go for a walk in the woods with their dog," Houston said during a wildfire update with officials. "But how would you like to be stuck in the woods while there's a fire burning around you?" He said the restrictions will be loosened once enough rain falls to mitigate the risk. "In the meantime go to the beach," he added. "It's certainly my hope that every single one of those is fully prosecuted and collected," said the premier. "It's just too serious of a situation by now."Houston confirmed that 12 people have been penalised for violating the ban so far.One of them is military veteran Jeff Evely. On Friday, Mr Evely posted a video on Facebook of himself going to a Department of Natural Resources office saying he wanted to challenge the ban in court, and "the only way for me to do that is to get the fine". "I'm not trying to make trouble for you guys," Mr Evely, who ran as a candidate for the People's Party of Canada in April's federal election, is heard telling an official.He is later seen walking into the woods, before going back to the office where he is fined C$28,872.50. Others defend the restrictions as a needed precaution since the province has seen two fires a day for the last week on average.Stephen Maher, a political journalist who lives in rural Nova Scotia, argued in an opinion piece for the Globe and Mail newspaper that there is little chance his run in the woods would have sparked a fire.He added, "but fires are mostly caused by dimwitted and careless people, and there is no way of separating them from their careful neighbours, so the ban is necessary". In a separate blog post, former Conservative Party campaign manager Fred DeLorey said that given the lack of rain, "when the provincial government announced a temporary ban on travelling in the woods due to extreme fire risk, I didn't complain. I exhaled".
Officials fear a repeat of 2023, the worst-ever fire season in Canada and in Nova Scotia, when 220 fires razed more than 25,000 hectares of land in the province. The province of New Brunswick has brought in similar restrictions, barring use of public land. On Wednesday, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador banned off-road vehicles in forested areas until at least next week. It has brought in fines of up to C$150,000 for fire ban violations. Canada's 2025 wildfire season is the second-worst on record, after 2023. Fires happen naturally in many parts of the world and it's difficult to know if climate change has caused or worsened a specific wildfire because other factors are also relevant. According to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change is making the weather conditions needed for wildfires to spread more likely.More than 470 blazes are currently "out of control", according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. One is on the western outskirts of Halifax, the largest city in Nova Scotia, which continues to burn out of control.In New Brunswick, Premier Susan Holt called it "a tale of two fires". She said crews had made progress on one fire, but were having less success with one blaze near the community of Miramichi. Military and coast guard units were deployed in Newfoundland and Labrador, while the worst fires are concentrated in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Three other provinces, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario have also seen fire activity well above their 25-year averages.