The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Houston government to tell taxpayers how much it spent defending the province’s unconstitutional woods ban in court.

“The Houston government racked up legal bills defending this lawsuit and taxpayers deserve to know what it cost them,” said Devin Drover, CTF Atlantic Director and General Counsel. “The government hired outside lawyers to defend a ban that a court found violated Nova Scotians’ Charter rights and now it won’t even show taxpayers the bill.

“That’s not accountability, that’s a cover-up of the price tag.”

The Nova Scotia Department of Justice denied the CTF’s freedom-of-information request for records showing the total cost of legal fees in the woods ban case on May 12, 2026. The government cited solicitor-client privilege and refused to release any information, including the total amount spent on McInnes Cooper, an outside law firm, to defend the ban in court.

“No matter how you felt about the woods ban, taxpayers deserve to know the expenses the government ran up fighting to defend it in court,” Drover said. “A total dollar figure isn’t legal advice. It’s a bill. And taxpayers are the ones who paid it.”

The Houston government imposed a sweeping ban on entering the woods in 2025. The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia struck it down on April 17, 2026, ruling the government had acted unreasonably and failed to consider the Charter rights affected by the ban.

“The government lost in court and now it’s hiding the bill,” Drover said. “That’s why we are taking further steps to force the records to be released. If the Houston government won’t come clean on its own, we’ll make it.”

The CTF will be filing a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for Nova Scotia to challenge the government’s refusal to disclose the records.