Oops! Peter MacKay tells Arnold Schwarzenegger that California shares a border with Canada

Looks like we can’t make fun of the stereotype of the geography-challenged American. Defence Minister Peter MacKay was speaking with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Winnipeg about defence spending when he began extolling the close ties between the U.S. and Canada. So far, so good. Then things took a turn for the awkward when MacKay said, “California and British Columbia have a shared border.” (It’s at 1:25 in the video above.) In MacKay’s defence, we probably couldn’t name all the states that border Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but we’re pretty sure Nevada isn’t one of them, or else trips to Vegas would be cheaper.

• Schwarzenegger gives Peter MacKay geography lesson [CTV.ca]
• Peter MacKay’s embarrassing flub with the ‘Governator’ [Toronto Star]