And Boston?
Boston adapts.
Michelle Wu stays in office. She speaks in Parliament twice, calm and composed. The MBTA upgrades with Montreal-built stock. Local businesses surge on Canadian investment. Language integration happens classroom by classroom. Canadian teachers arrive—not as instructors, but collaborators.
In Somerville, a mural reads: “We’re not a project. We’re a partner.”
The Bruins stay. So does Dunkin, now competing with Tim Horton.
But the ads look different now.
And on Tremont Street, in the window of a dusty bookstore, a hand-painted sign says:
“We didn’t leave. We remembered who we were.”
Bibliography
1. Canadian Constitution Act, 1982 , Section 43. Government of Canada.
2. Allows provinces to amend aspects of the Constitution with regional consent, providing a legal framework for the theoretical absorption of New England.
3. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-16.html
4. “Canada’s Internet Exchange Points (IXPs).” Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), 2023.
5. Verifies the existence of MonctonIX and other major Canadian internet routing hubs that could serve encrypted state-level communications.
6. https://www.cira.ca/en/resources/internet-exchange-points
7. Musk, Elon. Tweet on Starlink refusing shutdown during Gaza conflict. October 2023.
8. Establishes precedent for Musk resisting governmental pressure to suspend satellite internet, used in the fictional scenario.
9. https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1718328435046234522
10. Borger, Julian. “Elon Musk’s Power over Ukraine War Effort Raises Alarm.” The Guardian , September 2023.
11. Details Starlink’s central role in conflicts and Musk’s political defiance, providing a model for the scenario in your piece.
12. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/07/elon-musk-starlink-ukraine-war-effort
13. Kuo, Lily. “China’s Guowang Satellite Network to Rival Starlink.” The Washington Post , April 10, 2023.
14. Describes China’s state-sponsored low-earth orbit satellite program and its strategic global implications.
15. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/10/china-guowang-satellite-network/
16. Freedman, Lawrence. The Future of War: A History. New York: PublicAffairs, 2017.
17. Analyzes how information infrastructure and communications have become strategic targets in modern conflicts.
18. Fung, Brian. “Trump’s FCC Rollbacks and Power Grid Risks.” CNN Business , February 2024.