Landowner left to 'twist in the wind' over road dispute hopes for compensation

A Nova Scotiaman who says a long-standing dispute over a dirt road forced him and his family to abandon their Colchester County home isn't backing down from his fight forcompensation.

Mark White saidhe and his family determined it was unsafe to stayin their home on Little York Road in Five Islandsafter a neighbour, who claims he owns the road,blocked itwith heavy equipment.

Concerned that emergency vehicles wouldn't be able to get through, the Whites packed up and left several years ago. White saidhesubsequently lost the home and declared bankruptcy.

• Fight over who owns dirt road a 'nightmare' costing Nova Scotia tens of thousands

"It's amazing that something like this could happen and that I could be pushed out of my home ... and the government not help," said White.

"I believe that somebody from this situation owes compensation to myself and my family and I'm going to keep fighting to get that."

Years of legal wrangling

Documents obtained by CBC News through freedom of information legislation show provincial bureaucrats have spent countless hours over the past four years trying to resolve the dispute involving landowner Arthur Pugsley.

The province has consistently maintained Little York Road is public, while Pugsley insists he built it and he owns it.

Pugsleyhas declined to speak with CBC about the matter.

In 2014, shortly after White and his family left their home, a steel gate was erected across the road. The provincial road sign was taken down and replaced with a sign for Pugsley Logging Road.

Pugsleybought abandoned home

Last month, ArthurPugsleyEnterprisesbought the home for $15,000, well below its assessed value of $95,000.

Halifax lawyer John Shanks, who has represented both White and another landowner in disputes involvingPugsley, said he believes White could successfully sue the province.

"I think they could well be at risk," he said.

The case could centre on whether the government wasnegligent in "maintaining a public highway for the benefit of the public and specifically for the benefit of those people who had property accessed along that public highway."

Province considered buying the property

Shanks said White's bankruptcy could complicate any legal case, potentially making it more difficult to establish the financial loss experienced.

He said before the bankruptcy, the province did consider buying the White property.

"At least it would have been a personal solution for Mr. White," said Shanks, adding that the province had the property appraised at one point.

Shortly after, "we were told that option was no longer on the table and Mr. White at that point was really left with little option. He didn't have the resources to stay and fight."

Landowners left to 'twist in the wind'

Shanks said the province's handling of the situation is baffling and he wonders why it hasn't done more to not only help Mark White but also enforce the public's right to use Little York Road.

"It is an abdication of their responsibility to let private landowners effectively twist in the wind while they decide whether they are going to enforce a right."

Deputy transportation minister Paul LaFleche said White "literally begged" the province to do the appraisal and "we thought at some point there may be a solution where if Mr. Pugsley doesn't want him there, he could buy the property."

In the end, LaFleche said "there was no valid public interest [for the province]to purchase this property."

When asked whether the province has any plans to compensate White for his losses, LaFleche said, "I don't know anything about that."