Wes Surrett

The Pictou Lodge has been penalized for not toeing Northern Pulp’s party line, says the resort’s general manager. “I stood up in front of a large crowd and I spoke to the poor record that our local pulp mill has when it comes to environmental standards and their record of non-compliance,” Wes Surrett said of his comments at a Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia summit in Halifax in late November. “It didn’t take any time and my phone was ringing with a representative from the mill, that it had heard that I had made disparaging remarks about the mill in public and that was not OK with them,” Surrett said. “He demanded a letter of apology or else they’d be cancelling their Christmas party with us. I just said, ‘Well, I guess you’re cancelling your Christmas party. “