N.S. chief justices supports individual judges banning poppies in court

Two chief judges in Nova Scotia support individual judges who choose to ban wearing poppies in the courtroom.

HALIFAX — The heads of Nova Scotia’s supreme and provincial courts are expressing their support for judges who ban court staff from pinning poppies to their robes during proceedings after some Canadian politicians called the practice wrong.

Deborah Smith, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and Perry Borden, chief judge of the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia, say the ban is within the discretion of judges, and the body that oversees all federal judges, the Canadian Judicial Council, recommends it to ensure the courtroom is unbiased and impartial.

“The wearing of a poppy symbolizes our respect for those who have served, and those who did not return,” the chiefs said in a statement Sunday.

“The decision of a judge not to allow symbols of support such as the poppy to be worn by court staff is not intended, in any way, to undermine or diminish the tremendous respect that we have for those who have served, and those who have died. It is to ensure that all Canadians know that they are entering an unbiased and neutral space when they enter a courtroom.”

The judges gave an example of a non-veteran charged with assault of a veteran walking into a courtroom where staff are wearing poppies, suggesting it could make the accused doubt the neutrality of the process.

“It is for that reason that the Canadian Judicial Council states, in its Ethical Principles for Judges ... judges should avoid statements or visible symbols of support, particularly in the context of court proceedings,”' the chiefs said.

Smith’s and Borden’s joint statement came after Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said on social media last week that he recently learned some courtroom staff were told to not wear the poppy and called the order disgusting.

“We have courts and a democracy because of the courage of those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of, and in defence of, the very rights and freedoms we enjoy,” he said.

“The judges who issued this order are wrong.”

Houston said he may introduce legislation enshrining the right to wear a poppy in the workplace.

In a statement to The Canadian Press, Courts of Nova Scotia spokesperson Andrew Preeper said it could not disclose details of the courthouse and judge Houston is referring to.

But Preeper said no court staff received an order prohibiting them from wearing a poppy.

“Staff who wished to wear poppies in the courtroom were advised to speak with the presiding judge and conversations, as needed, have occurred around that specific topic,” Preeper said.

“It is important to note that members of the public are welcome to wear poppies in the courthouse and courtroom....The Courts’ position on this matter is not unique to Nova Scotia.”

Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney also called the practice disgusting on Saturday in response to Houston’s social media post.

“I am equally dumbfounded and disgusted by the politicization of the remembrance poppy,” Kenney said in a post.

“The duty to remember is pre-political. It is one of the things that bind us together in community, and through time to previous generations. It recognizes that there are higher and more valuable things than our quotidian political disputes, or our material preoccupations.”

Poppies in courtrooms also became an issue in Saskatchewan last week when CBC reported a prosecutor in Saskatoon said she wore a poppy at the start of a Court of King’s Bench trial, but was told by email that she couldn’t.

In 2023, the province enacted the Saskatchewan Remembrance Observance Act, which it said was meant to ensure that provincially regulated workers were able to wear poppies recognized by the Royal Canadian Legion in the workplace from Nov. 1-11.

The government said at the time that exceptions would be made if wearing poppies posed a danger to health, safety or welfare of the worker or others.

“While the Court of King’s Bench has jurisdiction to determine appropriate attire, our government feels wearing a poppy shows respect to our service members who have defended our nation’s freedoms and system of government and continue to do so today, and therefore should be allowed in the courtroom,” Premier Scott Moe said in a social media post last Friday.

During the province’s election campaign last year, Moe said he would be open to expanding the existing legislation that permits court workers to wear poppies on Remembrance Day to include wearing orange on Sept. 30.

Many wear orange shirts on Sept. 30 to honour residential school survivors.

Moe’s 2024 promise came after The Meadow Lake Tribal Council, which represents nine First Nations, said two First Nations women were told to go home that year from a courthouse northwest of Saskatoon to change their orange clothing that marked National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

On Sunday, Smith and Borden said they understood symbols in courthouses is a very sensitive topic.

“Occasionally, however, it is necessary for a Chief Justice/Judge to speak out. This is one of those occasions.”

-- With files from Fakiha Baig and Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2025.

Emily Baron Cadloff, The Canadian Press