He leaned heavily on rhetoric and platitudes

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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Jan. 20 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland received significant media attention. It was critical of U.S. President Donald Trump’s political agenda without directly saying so. Canada’s progressive commentators, and some conservative commentators, couldn’t contain their enthusiasm when the PM uttered lines like, “we know the old order is not coming back … we shouldn’t mourn it” and “we shouldn’t allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong, if we choose to wield them together.”

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Carney’s speech was described as “powerful,” “remarkable,” “incredible,” “intelligent” and a “tour de force.” One political strategist suggested he had “hit a massive, consequential and needed home run” at Davos. A former Premier wrote the PM had “delivered the most important speech any Canadian Prime Minister has given in decades.”

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