Lainie holds a degree in Art History and is the recipient of several professional dance grants and one inter-arts grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. She has been credited for motivating the government to tighten Canadian laws around marriages of convenience - and she did it by using art as a vehicle for communicating with the media and government about her personal story. Lainie's story caught international media attention when she marched to Parliament Hill wearing her wedding dress and a red door strapped to her back. She lives in Canada's national capital region with her miniature dachshund, Picasso. How to Catch an African Chicken is her first book.