BANFF – People on either side of the border were taken aback when Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week he considered the possibility of U.S.-led military actions against Canada as an “extreme tail risk.”

For Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the notion that Canadians need to worry about a military invasion is not merely unlikely, it’s unfathomable.

Dunleavy spoke at the Global Business Forum on Friday, where an earlier session touched on why Canada would even need to consider such a prospect.

“I have to say I don’t use superlatives very often, but that was one of the most fascinating and shocking conversations I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Dunleavy told the crowd. 

“The idea that America would attack Canada is shocking to the average American on the ground. You have to understand that — shocking.”

The two-term Republican governor noted that one of the last serious U.S. invasion attempts occurred in 1775, when Benedict Arnold led American forces into Quebec.

In today’s political environment, however, the governor’s comments come as the two countries are mired in a trade war, despite having an existing free trade deal. And shortly before his 2025 inauguration, Trump suggested to reporters that he might use economic force to annex Canada, but not military force.

“From my perspective, and I’m not in the (White House) Situation Room, but I know a lot of people in Washington, and I know a lot of people across the........

© Calgary Herald