Interview: Stevie Cameron, On the Line with Joseph Planta (thecommentary.ca)

Stevie Cameron

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

Journalist and bestselling author (On the Take, Blue Trust, The Last Amigo) Stevie Cameron joins Joseph Planta to talk about her latest book, The Pickton File (Knopf, 2007), a look at the 'Willie' Pickton trial, the women who disappeared and were murdered from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and how she's covered this ongoing story.

The Pickton File by Stevie Cameron. (Knopf, 2007)

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Pickton File

You will need the Real Player to listen to the interviews. If you don't have it, you can download it at http://www.real.com.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line here at THECOMMENTARY.CA.

Stevie Cameron joins me from here in Vancouver today to discuss her new book, The Pickton File. You can't not encounter the Pickton case when reading newspapers in this part of the country, and I suspect elsewhere. Here are some numbers 65 is the number of women on the police's official missing women list. 26 is the number of women Pickton is charged with killing. 600,000 is the number of exhibits seized by police. 200,000 is the number of DNA samples processed by the RCMP crime labs. There are seven on the prosecution's team; 10 on the defence. The one person on trial is Robert William 'Willie' Pickton.

Retailing for $24.95, the book, which is published by Knopf, looks at the run up to the trial, the accused himself, the women who went missing from this city's Downtown Eastside, and how Cameron has covered this case here and beyond. It is a serviceable précis of this exhaustive, and sometimes exhausting and exasperating case. Cameron has done a remarkable job getting into this case, and reading what she's done thus far is interesting and important.

Stevie Cameron is the author of four bestselling books, a graduate of UBC, and a Cordon Bleu-trained cook who heads up a program where food, clothing, and medical services are provided to some of Toronto's homeless. I am pleased to welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Stevie Cameron; Good morning, Ms. Cameron.

Weblinks:

Stevie Cameron website: http://steviecameron.com/