Marcus Kolga is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

People walk during heavy snow in Stockholm County on Jan. 1, in Sundbyberg, Sweden.JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

In his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that Canadians’ long-standing assumptions about security and stability no longer hold. The world, he said, is more dangerous, volatile, and unpredictable than at any point in recent memory.

His warning came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump posted an image depicting much of North America, including Canada and Greenland, draped in American flags – a provocation some dismissed as trolling. It should not be.

Combined with Russian provocations, Arctic claims, and Mr. Trump’s increasingly explicit rhetoric targeting America’s allies, the message is clear: Canada’s strategic environment has shifted. Canada’s own military planners are now quietly reassessing scenarios that would have been unthinkable until recently, including modelling by the Canadian Armed Forces for unconventional warfare in the event of a hypothetical U.S. military invasion on Canadian soil.

These are necessary preparations. The ability to defend the nation contributes to deterrence and sovereignty. In the current global climate, the military should be modelling all hypothetical attacks from powers such as Russia, China, or any other adversaries.

Military models Canadian response to........

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