About those American plans to invade Canada...

Mark Carney certainly got tongues wagging this week, but this idea isn’t serious.

When Mark Carney did what he so often does and turned to foreign media to deliver a message, he certainly got people talking. Mainly, it was all about his comments that he’s reviewed military plans to deal with an American invasion of Canada.

I still think the bigger and more important story was Carney once again expressing support for moving away from the US Dollar as the global reserve currency. Doing that would lead to an economic upheaval in the American economy and it’s the type of thing opposed by both parties - it would be unpopular no matter who was in the White House.

Thanks for your support in making my column on this issue one of the most read at the Toronto Sun this week.

But the easy story, the catnip for Carney’s Elbows Up supporters was the invasion talk.

Here’s what Carney said the New York Times when pressed on comments he made about reviewing plans to deal with an invasion.

“I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk,” said Mr. Carney, a former central banker for Britain and Canada who approaches the world by meticulously assessing worst-case scenarios and drafting responses. He added: “That’s just risk management. That’s not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to” prepare.

The plans had already been reported on…

Carney’s comments to the Times really took off and what that teaches me is that Canadians, other than Carney and including many journalists, pay more attention to foreign media commenting on Canada than we do Canadian media.

The Globe and Mail had a story on these plans and what they looked like back on January 20, 2026.

The two senior government officials said military planners are modelling a U.S. invasion from the south, expecting American forces to overcome Canada’s strategic positions on land and at sea within a week and possibly as quickly as two days.

The Globe went on to explain that Canada doesn’t have the troop strength and equipment of the American military - an obvious fact to all.

One of the officials said the model includes tactics used by the Afghan mujahedeen in their hit-and-run attacks on Russian soldiers during the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan War. These were the same tactics employed by the Taliban in their 20-year war against the U.S. and allied forces that included Canada. Many of the 158 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014 were struck by improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

Now, there might be a reason that this story was published at the time it was and also why it was missed by most in Canada.

January 20, 2026 was the day that Carney delivered his Davos speech. His words and the global reaction to them dominated the airwaves and this story got lost.

Not a realistic idea…

A week after Carney’s Davos speech, Canadian and American service members were joined at the hip during military exercises in Greenland. Yes, the very Greenland that was hotly contested in Davos is where we sent fighter jets, pilots, crews and more, working together and supported by NATO.

You know who else took part in this? The Danish air force with their F-35s.

You may have noticed that this past week the US, Denmark and Greenland all signed a deal where the United States has their security concerns addressed and Greenland remains a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.

No invasion.

Donald Trump has talked about using economic force to get what he wants from Canada and as much as I dislike the language - both countries are using economic force against each other. He dropped the idea of annexing Canada during his first face to face meeting with Carney in the White House back in May of 2025.

“Well, I still believe that, but it takes two to tango, right?” Trump said.

He’d like a deeper economic union, but he hasn’t threatened in any serious way to send troops across the border.

Not that this has stopped Globe readers from writing letters to the editor expressing how at 83 years they plan on beating back American soldiers with garden tools if they need to.

Given the comparative size of the Canadian military to the American military, we may need octogenarians with garden tools.

What the Americans are saying…

There’s some laughter south of the border, shock that we would think an invasion is something they would consider.

I turn to the Globe again, who had a reporter in Banff where Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy, a Republican, told an event staged by the Canada West Foundation, that there was “zero chance” of the Americans invading Canada.

“The idea that America would attack Canada is shocking to the average American on the ground,” the governor said. “You have to understand: Shocking. Like, I was stunned that was even contemplated.”

The idea that a fellow NATO member, a country we still work with daily in NORAD for our common continental air defences, would invade us is crazy. In fact, it’s so crazy that the Canadian military hasn’t looked at options like the ones Carney reviewed in more than a century.

My guess is, these were ordered to be drawn up by Carney or his PMO and not something the Canadian Armed Forces initiated on their own.

Radio host Glenn Beck knows Canada well. He grew up in Washington State near the border, knows all about CBC and curling. And the woman sitting next to him in this segment is Rikki Ratliff, who lived in Canada for many years and even worked with me at Sun News Network before heading back south.

Their main message here is that even talking about this is ridiculous.

We all know why Carney and the Liberals revel in this though, it helps their poll numbers.

I was writing about Carney putting politics ahead of paycheques in the Sun on Friday. This is a real concern given that export bans on key sectors take effect next week and Carney and his team are in no hurry to get back to the table.

Read the column where I explain how jobs will be headed south, and won’t come back, if we don’t act.