Nova Scotia announces financial framework for its emerging offshore wind industry

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I recently heard the love of my life, who got sent off to her aunt’s place in B.C. after she got pregnant, came back to Winnipeg. She lost the pregnancy early on, but her parents wanted to keep us far apart, so she had to stay on with her aunt and uncle and wasn’t allowed phone calls from guys.

Now that she’s finally back in Winnipeg again, I got her new cell number and I called her right away. She said, “You never called me after I was sent away, and I waited for your call every day. How dare you call me now?”

I said, “I didn’t have your new number, and I was scared to call your family here, for it.” She said, “You could have gotten my new number from my sister or any one of my friends if you tried! They kept asking me if you’d called yet. They said it showed you didn’t really care.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was too chicken to stand up to her family. Don’t you think she should stop being cruel to me? What can I say to her?

I write as a proud Canadian-Australian who is experiencing something I never imagined possible — watching Canada’s sovereignty, economic security and national identity being repeatedly challenged by the country it has long regarded as its closest neighbour and ally.

This is not an abstract diplomatic disagreement to me. Canada is my beloved country. To witness its name, dignity and independence treated as though they may be diminished, negotiated away or simply disregarded is profoundly painful.

Any one of the events that has occurred might be dismissed as another dispute between governments. Taken together, however, three developments provide unmistakable evidence that a red line has been crossed.

First came the tariffs affecting Canadian steel, aluminum, automobiles and softwood lumber. These measures were introduced despite the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement — CUSMA — intended to provide stability, predictability and largely tariff-free trade across North America.