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

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.

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.