Lawyer compares Nova Scotia’s ban on hiking and cancelled Sean Feucht concerts to COVID rules

John Carpay, a representative of the Justice Center of Constitutional Rights (JCCR), sat down with KelownaNow video host Jim Csek for another livestream focused on recent court proceedings highlighted by the JCCR.

This week, the duo discussed a new Nova Scotia decision to restrict access to wooded areas, including activities like hiking, camping and fishing, until mid-October due to the current wildfire risk.

They also discussed the cancellation of Christian singer Sean Feucht's concerts by municipalities, such as Abbotsford and Montreal, citing safety concerns and his political views.

Carpay sharply criticized Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston’s recent ban on entering wooded areas.

The premier’s order, which prohibits essentially all activities in forests until Oct. 15 to prevent wildfires, carries a $25,000 fine for violations.

Carpay argued that there’s “no rational connection” between these restrictions and fire prevention, comparing them to arbitrary COVID-era rules.

“It's just shameful. There's no rational connection,” he said. “There's no relationship between you or I or anybody else walking down a hiking trail. That's not causing any kind of risk.”

Carpay also condemned the cancellation of Feucht's concerts over alleged safety concerns and ideological differences.

He said that governments must remain neutral under the Canadian Charter, accusing municipalities of violating this principle by excluding Feucht for his conservative and Christian views.

“There's a duty of state neutrality,” he said. “You can't pick and choose and say, well, only people allowed to sing here are those who align with our, you know, CBC, Liberal, NDP values. And we're gonna exclude people that might have a conservative or a Christian or a libertarian perspective.”

The JCCR has sent a demand letter to Abbotsford, threatening legal action if the concert ban isn’t reversed, and is prepared to challenge Nova Scotia’s woods ban in court if it persists.

Carpay said he sees these incidents as part of a broader pattern of government overreach.

^{Thumbnail photo credit: Province of Nova Scotia website and Sean Feucht Facebook}