Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My girlfriend and I are in love, living together — a deeply committed couple who’d like to go travelling. She wants to quickly get married before we do that, “because of less trouble crossing borders.” I think that’s NOT a very romantic reason for getting married!

Now she’s upset and questioning why she’s even “just living” with me! I don’t know what to say. I just don’t want to get married unromantically, for travel’s sake. It’s a feeling deep in my gut. What do you think? — Romantic Canadian Guy, Winnipeg

Dear Romantic Canuck: There are cracks growing in your relationship right now as expressed by your girlfriend, who’s questioning why you’re “just living together.”

Could you do some Canadian exploration together for now, and test out how you travel longer-term as a couple — and then decide on marriage, before you consider leaving the safety of this modern country?

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I received an angry, old-fashioned breakup letter from my boyfriend today with “What I should have sent you” printed on the envelope. It was a nasty followup to a kinder text message he sent me the day before with some of his regrets about the two of us and about himself.

This one listed all my faults — social, political, personal and sexual. I guess he had taken time to really dig around in his strange little mind. He’s definitely not short on cutting remarks.

I don’t know which of the two makes me madder. Should I respond to either?

— Shaking My Head, downtown Winnipeg

Canadians delivered some mixed messages when they aired their views on two hot-button farm issues in Angus Reid polls released this week.

They stood in solidarity with farmers on both fronts, but were decidedly contradictory on the concept of protecting domestic industries.

The pollster found 57 per cent of respondents favour reducing Canada’s tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles if it means securing a better deal for canola exports. Predictably, support for this approach was higher in the west than in the east and higher among rural respondents than urban.

Canada’s decision to place 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs mimicked the actions taken by the U.S. and European Union and protected private and public investment into developing domestic EV manufacturing. In Canada’s case, falling into line with the U.S. policy up front lessened the likelihood of this country being a back door for these vehicles into the U.S. market.

As election signs begin appearing on lawns for the Elmwood-East Kildonan city council byelection, and with the general election on the horizon for next year, so is a certain kind of political rhetoric: politicians promising to fight for their constituents.

The subject of the Louise Bridge and its importance to the residents of the community has been raised as an issue by some candidates seeking success in the current byelection. The discussion that’s been raised has made me think about the process of building bridges — and I’m not talking about the physical ones. How do we build the metaphorical bridges within our government, and within our communities?

On the surface, having someone fight for you seems like a grand gesture, but in municipal governance, is this really effective?

The language used by some candidates in this byelection and candidates ramping up for the 2026 general election sounds heroic on a campaign brochure, but it falls short at city hall. To get anything meaningful done, whether that be repairing failing bridges, modernizing our transit system, or opposing zoning reform, you need at least eight other people (councillors and mayor) to agree with you.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My boyfriend is a funny guy and has me in stitches all the time. But what doesn’t make me smile is the fact he has clumsy moves, sexually. When the sex doesn’t work out, things feel like they’re wearing pretty thin with him.

How do you teach a man things he should know already? I finally tried to teach him some moves I’d experienced with previous boyfriends, but he just looked at me with disgust and said, “Who taught you that?”

Do we even have a chance? I’m almost ready to give up on him, but he’s such a decent man, otherwise.

— Wearing Thin, downtown Winnipeg