Mark Carney’s speech got the world’s attention – but was it the right message? |
Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20.FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images
Mark Carney’s speech in Davos last month has made a bigger splash than any pronouncement by a Canadian prime minister in years.
Not since Brian Mulroney clashed with Margaret Thatcher over South African apartheid has something a PM said been so remarked on in other parts of the world. I happen to be visiting Australia right now and the speech has been all over the media. There must have been dozens of articles and columns analyzing his remarks. Most of them praised him for his intelligence and rigour.
I think there are a few reasons why the speech had such an impact. To begin with, it was unusually well written. Mr. Carney cited Vaclav Havel and Thucydides to make his points. That was a refreshing exception to the usual pablum you get from world leaders at gab fests such as Davos.
Opinion: Mark Carney delivered hard truths at Davos. Canadians deserve to hear the same
Second, his defiant tone struck a chord at a time when the mad king who occupies the White House was at his maddest. Donald Trump was threatening to take over Greenland. Appalled European countries were sending small contingents of soldiers there to express their opposition to this insane idea, which........