By Canadian Press

Ellen Page steps up attack on Nova Scotia pulp mill’s effluent pipeline

Dec 10, 2018 | 6:36 AM

HALIFAX — Hollywood actor Ellen Page is doubling down on her criticism of a Nova Scotia pulp mill, rallying her 1.4 million Twitter followers against its plan to build an effluent pipeline into the ocean.

“Nova Scotia government MUST stop its corporate welfare for company that is literally destroying the province,” the Halifax-born movie star tweeted Monday about the Northern Pulp mill.

“Enough is enough.”

The plan to dump treated effluent from the company’s Abercrombie, N.S., mill into the Northumberland Strait has raised the ire of fishermen, environmentalists and the P.E.I. government.

Page has been waging a Twitter campaign against Northern Pulp for weeks, often retweeting criticism of the mill.

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Last month, Page, who starred in “Inception,” “Juno,” “X-Men” and numerous other films, tweeted in support of author Joan Baxter’s book “The Mill: Fifty Years of Pulp and Protest,” which traces decades of criticism of the mill’s environmental impact. 

It also examines the tactics originally used to convince the Pictou Landing First Nation to sign off on the deal allowing pollution to flow to Boat Harbour.

“Did it make me sad and angry? Yes. Did it also inspire me greatly? Yes,” Page tweeted of the book.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled last week the province must consult with the Pictou Landing First Nation on any funding of Northern Pulp’s effluent treatment facility. 

Justice Timothy Gabriel said if the province becomes a financial backer of the treatment plant, that raises questions on whether the level of funding will mean “upgraded safeguards” in light of what the Mi’kmaq community has endured.

He said if the government consults on environmental aspects of the plant’s construction, it should take a “holistic” approach and also consult on the financing it is willing to provide.

Premier Stephen McNeil has hinted that his government will appeal the ruling, saying he would “have more to say” on the matter.

Also last week, Northern Pulp said it’s taking legal action after fishermen blocked survey boats hired to examine a route for the proposed pipeline.

Kathy Cloutier, a spokeswoman for Northern Pulp’s parent company Paper Excellence Canada, said the mill has initiated action seeking an interim injunction to prevent blockades or obstructions of the survey work in the Northumberland Strait.

“Our hope was that the surveying would be allowed to occur without incident or obstruction, however actions indicated that the environmental assessment survey work would not proceed without the company seeking a court injunction,” Cloutier said in an email.

But Allan MacCarthy of the Northumberland Fishermen’s Association called the legal action “frivolous,” saying: “The fishermen have stated all along there will be no pipe in the Northumberland Strait. We are not backing down from that.”

The wider Gulf of St. Lawrence fisheries region is home to lobster and crab fisheries that brought in over $1.2 billion worth of catch in 2016.

Alex Cooke, The Canadian Press