Where Does Freedom Begin and End?

Canada's Centre for Occupational Health and Safety use the hierarchy of controls to treat hazards. Right now, in Nova Scotia the risk of forest fire is extreme. The most effective treatment of a hazard is elimination - or eliminate humans, who are typically the starters of fire, from the woods. This has raised the ire of many fellow Nova Scotians.

Substitution typically applies to using a different hazardous compound for example. Humans can substitute their walks in the woods for beach walks, or swimming for example, rather than be exposed to fire risk.
Image from CCHOS website

The government could supply anyone wanting to go into the woods with training on how to fight fires and the necessary fire fighting equipment to fight a fire in the woods. This engineered control would be an expensive choice and one that requires time and money to implement. 

Administrative controls include rules like, "No smoking in the woods, no campfires, no fireworks." Administrative controls leave the responsibility for compliance on the person being exposed to the risk. Given that folks do tend to eat foods they shouldn't, drink when they shouldn't, choose to not exercise when they should, park in no parking areas, vandalize, and dump garbage where they shouldn't, I do not have a lot of faith in the power of rules and morality.

The last and least effective means of protecting someone is to wear personal protective equipment. The exposure to the hazard is present and you get a heat resistant and burn resistant clothing. 

It is the government's job to establish the controls when all Nova Scotians are facing the same hazards. In 2020 we faced Covid. In 2025 we are facing the extreme risk of forest fire. We saw the devastation of similar fire conditions just a few years ago which resulted in damage to hundreds of homes. We can argue about how we got here with climate change, but that isn't going to remove or treat the current situation NOW.

Freedom is described as the power to act, think, and speak without restraint. One can always think without restraint, but then thoughts do not cause harm to others. With the government's choice to eliminate Nova Scotians from being in the woods, Nova Scotians actions are being constrained, our freedoms are being infringed upon, I agree. However...

Personal freedom must be tempered with responsibility and morality.

Personal responsibility is something very few westerners want to accept. It is easier to blame the education system than to consider what responsibility we take for our education. It is easier to blame health care than to take responsibility for our own preventative health. It is easier to blame our boss than to face the responsibility of looking for a different job.

Perhaps everyone in Nova Scotia should be allowed in the woods, but what responsibilities are Nova Scotians collectively willing to accept for that freedom?

• Everyone must be trained on how to fight a fire and must carry the equipment
• More money in taxes for fire fighting, climate change, and higher insurance costs
• Six figure, seven figure fines for anyone causing a fire
• Insurance companies are not responsible to cover damages that are not acts of God
• Provide shelter to the folks who become homeless during a fire evacuation 
• Folks who are homeless are provided housing by those with homes

I don't know about you, but I would rather refrain from walking in the woods rather than any of those options mentioned above. My paddle board and the beach are looking pretty good today.

I meandered through blueberry fields picking berries last week and listened to a young child say, "I eat the berries here because they are free. You only have to pay for them if you put them in the box." Those blueberries are not free. The producer is charging everyone a little more to cover their losses. Just like insurance companies will charge all of us more if there are fires destroying homes this year. Our actions have consequences far beyond the action.

Our access to the wilderness is a privilege, not a right. What are you willing to pay for it?