“If you feel lonely, you’re not alone.”

So declared Statistics Canada three years ago, in a study on loneliness, indicative of what catches our attention now. Too many Canadians fear that no one is paying attention to them.

Some 10 per cent of Canadians aged 35-75 reported feeling lonely, before it ticked up to 14 per cent of the more elderly, as widowhood leaves its mark. But younger Canadians were the loneliest ones, contrary to what one would expect in the flower of life; nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of those 15-24, and 15 per cent of those 25-34.