These folks, along with hundreds of others, are out there in the fields, exposed to all kinds of pesticides known to maim, cause birth defects, respiratory problems, skin ailments, headaches, nausea, and it's been disregarded.

Sometimes (the exposure) was more than once a day. They would come out of the fields covered. Their clothes would be green with pesticides. Their throats would be dry. They would be coughing. They were suffering from skin ailments.

This needs to stop. These companies need to watch what they are doing.

I like to think that I've got determination, and I'm fiercely protective of the people I love.

Part of being a fiction writer is being able to imagine how someone else is thinking and feeling. I think I've always been good at that.

There are two perspectives on the oil sands. You have companies that want to make it the next Saudi Arabia. The other is that it's a transitional resource to a low-carbon economy, and to regard it as anything else is to drain the continent's financial resources.