A Trifecta Of Verbal Blunders Involving MacKay, Schwarzenegger And Ignatieff

It was a great trifecta of gaffes.

First there was the geography slip-up by the defence minister; then the action-hero-turned-governor befuddled by which war Canada was waging; and finally the opposition leader’s blunder that had a famous Microsoft billionaire running the U.S. military.

The events were, surprisingly, all somewhat intertwined.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay kicked off the series of verbal faux pas this week when he surprised an audience Tuesday by saying California and British Columbia shared a border.

MacKay’s geography goof came in the presence of former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who didn’t immediately react but later politely noted that Oregon and Washington sit between B.C. and California.

But in case MacKay felt any anguish about the error, the ”Governator” later provided comfort that nobody’s perfect.

In a speech in Montreal on Thursday, Schwarzenegger pointed out the men and women of the American military who serve in Iraq have real guts. Then he tossed a bouquet Canada’s way that surprised his audience.

“The Canadians that went over there to Iraq,” he told the audience. “Those are heroes!”

Some of the 600 people who attended the luncheon exchanged glances with raised eyebrows. But it wasn’t the first time the former action movie star had surprised them during his address.

Schwarzenegger included “Montreal” on a list of world capitals, while making a point that politicians in those cities — like Washington, Beijing, Paris and Montreal — can’t be trusted to implement good environmental policy.

Shortly after, just across town, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made it a trio of blunders when he unwittingly replaced U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates with the head honcho of Microsoft.

”We think that Bill Gates, the secretary of defence, knows full well the problems with the F-35s,” Ignatieff replied when asked a question about the fighter jet.

Ignatieff later used the same event to chide MacKay for his geography mistake.

“Well, I just think our minister of defence should get a map,” the Liberal leader said.

”I think that would be helpful. We want to make sure that he knows about the great state of Washington, the great state of Oregon. Just take a look at the map next time. That would be helpful. . It’s a little embarrassing for Canada.”

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today