{"id":202295,"date":"2019-02-15T02:11:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T07:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=202295"},"modified":"2019-02-15T02:11:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T07:11:40","slug":"ellen-page-says-she-feels-responsibility-to-spotlight-efforts-of-n-s-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/15\/ellen-page-says-she-feels-responsibility-to-spotlight-efforts-of-n-s-activists\/","title":{"rendered":"Ellen Page says she feels responsibility to spotlight efforts of N.S. activists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Ellen Page at Hollywood Life Magazine\u2019s 7th Annual Breakthrough Awards (Photo By lukeford.net\/Wikimedia commons, CC BY-SA 2.5<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO — An impending apocalypse looms over Netflix’s new comic book series \u201cThe Umbrella Academy\u201d — but for Canadian star Ellen Page, the prospect of the end of the world doesn’t seem like science fiction.<\/p>\n

And much like the show’s dysfunctional superhero family, Page fears society will succumb to squabbling and apathy in confronting environmental catastrophe — particularly in her home province of Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

In an interview with two of her co-stars, the Halifax-born Oscar nominee said she feels a responsibility to amplify the voices of marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many issues happening, and not enough people know about it. And that’s because, of course, marginalized people are continuously silenced,\u201d Page said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a beautiful province and a beautiful country, and I don’t think people know the realities of what’s happening — particularly how the most marginalized are brutally affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing her numerous tweets on the issue, Page pointed to instances of what she sees as environmental racism, such as the landfills that surround predominantly black communities in rural Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

She has also been a vocal critic of the Northern Pulp mill’s plan to close its effluent treatment facility in Boat Harbour, a heavily polluted lagoon on the edge of the Pictou Landing First Nation.<\/p>\n

The company wants to build a new treatment facility and a pipeline to carry treated wastewater, or effluent, to be discharged in the Northumberland Strait. The project, which was formally registered with Nova Scotia’s Environment Department earlier this month, has raised the ire of fishermen, environmentalists, Indigenous activists and others.<\/p>\n

Page, who has starred in \u201cInception,\u201d \u201cJuno,\u201d \u201cX-Men\u201d and numerous other films, said there’s been a lot of \u201ccomplacency\u201d from the provincial Liberal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do something, because this makes people sick,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked about Page’s criticism, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said his government will conduct its environmental assessment of the Northern Pulp project based on its scientific merits — not the commentary of people \u201cfrom far away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone’s entitled to express their own opinion,\u201d McNeil told reporters Thursday.<\/p>\n

But Page said she sees her role not as an outside agitator, but a listener who can use her platform to spotlight important work that’s happening on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m trying to figure out ways to strategize, because it’s local activists who have been fighting who should be leading the way,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to learn and do what I can to support and make changes in Nova Scotia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Page brought global attention to these issues during a recent appearance on \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert,\u201d which has been viewed online nearly 1.4 million times. She also took aim at U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the talk show for his stance on LGBTQ policies, saying the politician would prefer she and her wife not be married.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Canadian Press on Thursday, Page said Canada has made strides in backing LGBTQ rights, but more work needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable members of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t grow up in a queer-positive environment, but I’m grateful to see it’s changing,\u201d said Page. \u201cA lot of the time, we see the progress and don’t understand that certain members of the community are dealing with a lot of day-to-day struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Umbrella Academy,\u201d Page’s character struggles with feeling different as the lone ordinary member of an extraordinary family.<\/p>\n

Based on the graphic novel series created by former \u201cMy Chemical Romance\u201d lead singer Gerard Way, the story begins with 43 women around the world who give birth at the same time in 1989 despite not being pregnant moments earlier.<\/p>\n

An eccentric billionaire scoops up seven of the babies, who are then raised to form a team of child superheroes — except for Page’s Vanya, who is taunted for her lack of special powers.<\/p>\n

When their adoptive father dies, the estranged siblings are reunited and forced to work together to stave off imminent global annihilation — if they can set aside their familial infighting.<\/p>\n

For Page, the show can be read as a cautionary tale about the consequences of international inaction on climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have characters who are a little bit like, ‘eh,\u201d’ she said with a shrug. \u201cSort of like how we’re handling the world ending in 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Umbrella Academy\u201d begins streaming on Netflix on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO — An impending apocalypse looms over Netflix’s new comic book series \u201cThe Umbrella Academy\u201d — but for Canadian star …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":202296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","mauthors-adina-bresge","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}