Leni Spooner

@lenispooner.bsky.social

80 Followers 31 Following

Canadian from Southwestern Ontario by way of Edmonton. Writer at between-the-lines.ca — power, policy & kitchen-table politics with clarity + context. Helping you read the system behind the story. lenispooner.substack.com

Editorial illustration of a vintage-style memorabilia display divided into two sections labelled “BP” for “Before Pandemic” and “PP” for “Post Pandemic.” The shelves include symbolic objects such as a calendar, bar chart, coffee mug, face mask, hand sanitizer, sourdough starter, webcam, and laptop screen, suggesting how the pandemic has become a dividing line in modern data, memory, and everyday life.
A minimalist image evoking civic dissonance: a visual contrast between formal law and unsettled public space, suggesting tension between legal meaning and instinctive civic sense. Muted tones, no text, no identifiable faces.
Aerial view of a growing small Canadian town with new subdivisions, roads, and water towers, representing how development charges fund local infrastructure.
A colourful display of locally grown produce at a rural market in Collingwood, Ontario. The produce section features neatly arranged rows of red, orange, yellow, and green bell peppers, leafy greens, carrots, leeks, cucumbers, mushrooms, and herbs under a chalkboard listing farm origins and prices. The scene captures the abundance of Ontario-grown food and the pride of small producers supplying local markets.
A diverse group of silhouetted people standing on a ridge at sunrise, looking at a glowing Earth—symbolizing collective global responsibility and hope for climate action. People everywhere are beginning to look up—and insist on changing who pays to protect it. The billable path is shifting.
A shopfront window displays two red-and-white signs reading “We Are Hiring” and “Apply Today.” The empty bottom panel underscores how opportunities are shrinking, symbolizing the gap between visible job ads and the reality of scarce, unstable work for young Canadians in 2025.
A sepia-toned portrait of a young couple—a woman in a blouse and a man in an RAF uniform—sits on a wooden kitchen table beside a steaming metal teapot, an open notebook with a pen, and a closed journal. Overlaid text reads: “No Going Back: Families in an Age of Scarcity. Why resilience—not certainty—is the best inheritance we can pass on. lenispooner.substack.com.”
A digital illustration of a globe centered on North America, visibly cracked down the middle to suggest geopolitical and economic fragmentation. The image symbolizes rising instability in the U.S. and its impact on Canada and global markets. AI-generated image by ChatGPT, designed for the post “The Data Doesn’t Lie—Until It Does” on Between the Lines.
A helicopter flies through thick wildfire smoke above a dense forest, dropping water over smouldering treetops. The headline reads: “To My American Friends: We’re Watching—and Worrying. The Smoke Signal Wasn’t From the Forests.”
Anula's Kitchen Esty store banner, her logo and images of yummy vegan baked goods.
A digitally composed image showing the Peace Palace in The Hague at sunset on the right, blended with a semi-transparent silhouette of Canada's Parliament buildings on the left. A bold red maple leaf overlays the sky with the text “Canada at The Hague,” surrounded by golden EU stars.
Side-by-side view of two modern fighter jets in flight: the Swedish Saab Gripen (left) and the American F‑35 Lightning II (right), flying above a cloudy blue sky. The image represents Canada’s current decision point between different strategic and procurement paths.
A Saab Gripen fighter jet sits on a runway in front of a line of trees under cloudy skies. Bold text reads: “The Quiet Build-Up, Part 2 – The 2% Myth: Canada’s Real Defence Posture.” A yellow line separates the title from a caption that says, “Waiting until 2032 is a readiness strategy, not a spending strategy. It’s time to know the difference.”
A Saab Gripen fighter jet taxiing on a runway under cloudy skies, with trees and grass in the background. Bold white and yellow text over the image reads: “The Quiet Build-Up, Part 2 – The 2% Myth: Canada’s Real Defence Posture.” A thin yellow line separates the subtitle from the tagline: “Waiting until 2032 is a readiness strategy, not a spending strategy. It’s time to know the difference.”
Black kitten staring into camera perched on his cat tree
Transript of post screenshot: A new Prime Minister and a new cabinet allow us to reset the tone and discuss how provincial and federal governments can work together to improve Albertans' lives. Instead, the Premier took it as an opportunity to make demands in the most juvenile and childish way. Her actions were insulting and certainly won't get us what we need. And what we need is an ethical, competent government. Yet again, Danielle Smith and the UCP have failed to deliver.