Canadians are looking on aghast at the events unfolding in Minneapolis, Minnesota—a northern city of bridges and rivers that loves hockey, values higher education, upholds diversity, and as home to the Mayo Clinic, is globally recognized for its excellence in health care research. It’s a place not unlike Edmonton or Winnipeg, which isn’t much more than a five-hour drive away.
But unlike Edmonton or Winnipeg, Minneapolis is under siege, its people targeted because they are Democrats. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs Border Protection (CBP) have become the president’s private militia, which he is using to send a message to a blue state that has refused to vote for him. Under the guise of what the Trump administration is calling “law enforcement,” a radical movement toward totalitarianism in America is playing out before our eyes.
The descent of Trump’s troops upon the city—Operation Metro Surge, as the White House calls it—began on December 1, 2025. As of Saturday, after fifty-five days of occupation and the execution of another civilian at the hands of ICE, on January 24, in that city, tensions have boiled over. There are over 3,000 ICE and CBP masked and heavily armed agents terrorizing the citizens of Minneapolis. They are led by the ghoulish Greg Bovino, who relishes being the visual representation of a totalitarian federal occupation of Minneapolis. His press conference following his men’s execution of another Minnesotan was designed to further psychologically assault the population by, once again, painting the victim as a terrorist wanting to inflict maximum harm to “Federal Law Enforcement”—a phrase he repeats with perverse pleasure.
America is tracking toward a version of mass civil unrest, which won’t look like the Civil War of 1861 (which killed 600,000 Americans) but will nevertheless bring widespread instability to that country. They are already there. The people have begun to wake up to the reality that the Trump administration has no interest in leaving them alone. If they want their freedom back, they are going to have to fight for it.
“This is tyranny,” Minnesota’s attorney general told New York Times reporter Lydia Polgreen. “There’s no other way to put it. We’re all shocked by it. Nobody ever thought America would look like this. We now don’t have to speculate as to what American fascism looks like. It’s right outside our door.”
Would Canada dare to intervene under the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, which requires states to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity?
Judging from Canada’s failure to oppose Israel’s genocide in Palestine, and actual PUNISHMENT of Palestine defenders, I would guess not.
I will say, how humbling it would be to be a liberating force for the Americans shortly after being threatened with annexation. Maybe some Americans would even help burn the white house this time if that ends up being the case.
All my life - and for generations before my life - the Americans have been puffing themselves up about their intent and even eagerness to resist tyranny. Cold dead fingers, tree of liberty being watered, home of the brave, etc…
Who am I to deny them their moment to finally shine?
Sure some US citizens would get behind it knowing that they get to get shit faced with Canadians afterwards.
Oh they’ll be shit faced before the Canadians, some of them might manage to stay up long enough to be shit faced with them.
There is the real possibility that Carney, in his Davos speech, was giving a veiled warning to the world, when he talked about the New World Order and the deterioration of rules-based governance, to prepare for a civil war in America. The Federal American administration is not just applying might-is-right on the world, it is also applying the aphorism of Thucydides directly on the American population. America is no longer a country that follows the Rule of Law even within its own governance.
The future, I posit, will depend on the reaction of the Democratic States of California and New York. If Minnesota collapses, it is a sure thing that the federal administration will go after these two states next.
The best reaction for Canada would be to stand back and watch, and be prepared to pick up the pieces.
I am absolutely certain that Canada is working furiously behind the scenes with the governors of Democratic States, and probably some Republican Sates, in regards to tariffs and trade. It is not a stretch to believe that planning for certain States to go their own way is on the table.
