The people who are raising the objections are good people … I just happen to disagree with them.

I was really bored, pretty antisocial, and not much of a joiner, and people thought that was a problem. I hated high school. In a way, it was good... I think, for a writer, it's good to be comfortable with being on the outside.

In refugee camps around the world, I met people who were gone. They were still walking around but had lost so much that they were unable to claim any sort of identity. Others I met found who they truly were, and they generally found it through service to others. They became teachers when there was no school, books or pencils.

When the Taliban took over in 1996, the news of their crimes hit the Toronto papers. As a feminist and as an anti-war activist, I heard about what was happening to women, and I wanted to do something to support those folks.

There's a desire to protect children from the horrors of the world at the same time other children are being exposed to it. The more information kids have about things that are going on in the world, the better decisions they will make.

We're pioneering the personal submarine market. The idea is people can own a submarine instead of a yacht and do a lot more with it.