I did not intend to write about Canada again, but I live in Minnesota.

Or am trying to.

If you are rolling your eyes reading this, you don’t live in Minnesota. The toxic smoke from the never-ending Canadian wildfires has, yet again, settled over the North Star State, so thick it is smothering.

Visibility is reduced. The horizon is a whitish-gray.

At times the smoke makes it all the way to the ground and becomes impossible not to inhale and consume directly.

From where I sit, Canada may as well be one giant, well-used ashtray.

Canada’s flames appear to be eternal, like its government’s idiocy. The toxic smoke they are producing repeatedly sits over Minnesota, as well as several other northern-tier states. This is causing many Americans to stay inside, cancel vacation plans, get sick, and in some cases die.

You would think such a hyper-woke country would give a crap about the human cost its refusal to put out its fires is taking on its neighbors, but you would be wrong. If there were outdoor smoke detectors across Minnesota, every single one of them would be going off right now -- and possibly in perpetuity, in keeping with the everlasting Canadian wildfires.

This is akin to your next-door neighbor burning massive piles of wet leaves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week … with the prevailing wind direction blowing the heavy smoke right into your yard, windows, and home. And that neighbor knowing that you have an asthmatic child and an elderly relative on oxygen residing in your home with you. (And so much for the rest of your family coming to visit.)

I have had fish fries in my home when my smoke detectors went off due to far less visible and obnoxious smoke then is outdoors over Minnesota right now. Either we have to go up there and put out the fires ourselves, or we should light everything on fire up there that isn't currently burning, so that-- at least eventually-- there could be an end to the madness when there is nothing left to burn.

What about equity? “Unfair” doesn't begin to describe this travesty.

Maybe we could reciprocate and send them something to repay the favor. Or perhaps we should simply annex Canada, put out the damn fires, and keep Alberta and Saskatchewan while returning the rest of the provinces after the fires are finally extinguished.

I have heard more than one Canuck authority say that sometimes the “right thing to do” is let natural fires burn themselves out. (Easy for them to say, when many of these conflagrations occur where no one lives.)

My response? First off, many of these fires aren’t “natural,” but were set deliberately. That means they were man-caused! Gasp! But Canada seems just as uninterested in dealing with these arsonists as it is with punishing any other criminal … with the exception of those who criticize its government or preach the Christian gospel, of course. Death is natural, too, but no moral person would let their fellow human beings die unnecessarily.

Canada may be woke, but it needs to wake up. Once again, the smoke level in Minnesota is considered “unhealthy for all groups.” Unhealthy for everyone. And it is predicted to be at this level for four consecutive days. Just like it has been several times already this summer. (And likely will be again and again until late fall.) Like it was in the summer of 2024. And the summer of 2023. Detecting a pattern?

Certain acts committed by one nation that cause misery and death to those in other nations may be considered acts of war. What to make of Canada’s deliberate inactions in this case?

As Rush Limbaugh might say, “for those of you in Rio Linda” I am not advocating going to war with Canada. I would, however, like the American government to take this more seriously.

Image: Screen shot from FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul video, via YouTube