“That decision would set in motion an unstoppable cycle of violence. Even if we imagine a scenario in which the Canadian government unconditionally surrenders, a fight would ensue on the streets.

“Even if one per cent of all resisting Canadians engaged in armed insurrection, that would constitute a 400,000-person insurgency, nearly 10 times the size of the Taliban at the start of the Afghan war.”

Canadian Forces loyalists would likely mobilize civilian recruits into guerrilla groups “that could strike, retreat into the wilderness and blend back into the local communities that support them.”

“A chronic violent insurrection in North America could financially and militarily pin down the U.S. for decades, ultimately triggering economic and political collapse,” Ahmad says.