It is shown that the Ellis semigroup of a $\mathbb Z$ -action on a compact totally disconnected space is completely regular if and only if forward proximality coincides with forward asymptoticity and backward proximality coincides with backward asymptoticity. Furthermore, the Ellis semigroup of a $\mathbb Z$ - or $\mathbb R$ -action for which forward proximality and backward proximality are transitive relations is shown to have at most two left minimal ideals. Finally, the notion of near simplicity of the Ellis semigroup is introduced and related to the above.

We first improve an old result of McMahon and show that a metric minimal flow whose enveloping semigroup contains less than $2^{\mathfrak{c}}$ (where $\mathfrak{c}=2^{\aleph _{0}}$) minimal left ideals is proximal isometric (PI). Then we show the existence of various minimal PI-flows with many minimal left ideals, as follows. For the acting group $G=\text{SL}_{2}(\mathbb{R})^{\mathbb{N}}$, we construct a metric minimal PI $G$-flow with $\mathfrak{c}$ minimal left ideals. We then use this example and results established in Glasner and Weiss. [On the construction of minimal skew-products. Israel J. Math.34 (1979), 321–336] to construct a metric minimal PI cascade $(X,T)$ with $\mathfrak{c}$ minimal left ideals. We go on to construct an example of a minimal PI-flow $(Y,{\mathcal{G}})$ on a compact manifold $Y$ and a suitable path-wise connected group ${\mathcal{G}}$ of a homeomorphism of $Y$, such that the flow $(Y,{\mathcal{G}})$ is PI and has $2^{\mathfrak{c}}$ minimal left ideals. Finally, we use this latter example and a theorem of Dirbák to construct a cascade $(X,T)$ that is PI (of order three) and has $2^{\mathfrak{c}}$ minimal left ideals. Thus this final result shows that, even for cascades, the converse of the implication ‘less than $2^{\mathfrak{c}}$ minimal left ideals implies PI’, fails.