The plan used in this episode by Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) was later copied by the British Conservative Party in real life on January 31, 2006. The vote was to support an amendment to the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 and passed by one vote, due to the absence of Prime Minister Tony Blair who was fooled by the plan.
The US military's most recent contigency plan for invading Canada is actually from 1924, not 1815. "War Plan Red" was developed as an academic exercise by the Army War College. Its premise was the US going to war with the United Kingdom, and invading Canada since it was part of the British Empire.
Mako played four different characters in four different years in the TV series M*A*S*H (1972), in which Alan Alda (playing Vinnick running for president in this series) was one of the lead actors.
This episode directly inspired a similar action in the British Parliament in 2006.
The town of Chinook, Montana is pronounced "Shi-NUHK" rather than "Chin-OOK." Also, both Chinook and Lodgepole are too far from Glacier National Park for the scenario they describe to make sense.