For the last several years, summers in Minnesota and other northern-tier states have been blighted by smoke drifting across the border from Canada. We have gotten used to hazy, polluted air and rosy sunsets, as smoke has become a summer fixture. The mayor of Lakeville, a Twin Cities suburb near mine, summed it up:
The Canadians have completely ruined the Minnesota summer.
— Luke Hellier (@lukehellier) July 30, 2025
If it is bad in the Twin Cities, located in the southern portion of Minnesota, one can only imagine how smoky it is near the Canadian border, or in Canada itself.
The smoke comes from forest fires, and the fires are mostly started by arsonists. Reportedly, arsonists have started more than 30 fires in Canada so far this year.
But what causes the fires to burn out of control? Canada’s government, resorting to the last refuge of a scoundrel, blames global warming. But in the U.S., acres burned by forest fires have declined by 80% since the 1920s and 1930s, while globally there are fewer acres burned by forest fires than at any time in history.
Presumably Canadian wildfires, like California’s, have gotten worse in recent years due to incompetent forest management. Reversing the learning of many decades, environmentalists now insist that forests be left alone to accumulate huge quantities of flammable underbrush. The result is predictable.
My wife wondered whether we could sue Canada. I assume the answer is no. But smoky summers are becoming the strongest reason I know of to consider annexing Canada.
