Sarah Palin can see Russia from her place in Alaska, but our own Peter MacKay thinks he can zip across the British Columbia border to Los Angeles.

The defence minister came out with this in Winnipeg Tuesday evening: “California and British Columbia have a shared border, a strong relationship. And some would say that our countries are probably as close as any two nations on the planet.”

MacKay was speaking with California’s “Governator,” former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce dinner at the Fairmont Hotel.

The former Mr. Universe and Conan the Barbarian put his acting skills to good use, remaining stoic at the border blunder, with only a small sideways glance indicating he’d heard MacKay’s slip-up.

The incident brings to mind the timeless words of Lloyd Christmas (played by Jim Carrey) in Dumb and Dumber. When told his lovely limo passenger is flying to Aspen, Christmas replies: “California? Beautiful!”

“I think it is important for the American people in general to learn as much as possible about Canada,” was part of Schwarzenegger’s response to MacKay’s question on Canada-California relations. “They’re not as educated about the rest of the world as they are about America.”

Perhaps MacKay, too, could use a lesson from the Kindergarten Cop. Or was the flub just nervousness at sitting that close to the Terminator?