A speech that should have been much more

At a time like no other, the prime minister gave a speech just like any other.

That is the most charitable description for what Mark Carney said Wednesday evening at the University of Ottawa. Not exactly a swing and a miss, but a missed opportunity nonetheless.

Carney’s pre-budget speech was billed by his office as “a live address on Canada’s plan to build a stronger economy, in advance of the 2025 Budget.” Live addresses are usually reserved for matters of high national drama and consequence like national unity and the constitution, free trade, 9/11, the fate of a minority Parliament, or, most recently, the pandemic.

None of this has turned out to be the case in what Carney said. But it could have been and should have been. Beyond the unusual billing — a “live address” — the fraught economic situation we are experiencing in our trading relationship with the United States merited speaking to Canadians honestly and eloquently. The moment demanded a momentous address. That’s not what Canadians got.

Carney began strongly, declaring that our “ever-closer economic relationship between the Canadian and U.S. economies is now over.” Our relationship with the United States will never be the same as it was, he stated. Unsurprisingly, he draped himself in the Canadian flag and nostalgia, reaching back to “pre-Confederation Canada” and the fabled “courier du bois” in their birchbark canoes before leaning forward to the last half of the last century citing Expo 67, the CN Tower, and even the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Unable to resist a baseball metaphor two days after the “Springer Dinger” catapulted the Blue Jays into the World Series, he exhorted, “It is time to swing for the fences again.” What amounted to bold swinging in the speech was setting a goal to “double our non-U.S. exports in the next decade.” The remainder was a vigorous recitation of his government’s current agenda of initiatives underway. Worthwhile of doing and therefore worthy of noting in a speech, but neither novel nor bold enough to warrant the raised expectations of a live address when the nation’s anxiety and curiosity are on high alert to watch and listen.

Politicians typically give speeches for two reasons: to announce something or to inform you of something. Big ticket speeches are those that do something else, they persuade. After all, in a world of X and TikTok, you can casually announce billions of dollars or inform voters of your views on anything at any time without needing a podium or a microphone. But live addresses are a different beast. They are best reserved for when you need to persuade.

Political persuasion incorporates both are informing people of an issue that matters and announcing what you are doing about it, while persuading them that this action is both necessary and right. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle labelled this “the art of rhetoric.” Political rhetoric means using the power of persuasion emanating from the speaker’s credibility, and argument based on proof, to convince others. “We are most fully persuaded,” he wrote, “when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated.” In modern politics, diminished by ever-shortening attention spans, a truly persuasive speech requires a compelling, even novel argument, stand-out delivery, and a sense of occasion. It is about meeting and matching the moment.

Judging the prime minister’s speech by either ancient or modern standards, it did not pass this bar. It was solemn in tone and substantive in topic but thin on persuasion. It was heavy on his government’s record to date, but light on its intentions. You cannot rally people to your cause if you fail to reveal what the cause is.

A favourite phrase of the prime minister is that Canada is in a “hinge moment.” It’s how he won voters’ favour. Carney deployed it once more in Wednesday’s speech saying it called for “tough choices,” insisting “we will have to do less of some of the things we want to do.” But a call to sacrifice requires spelling out what those tough choices are, what they mean, and providing your path forward. None of this was truly on offer in his speech.

Pity that. We needed a “Team Canada” speech at a time when that sentiment, especially among premiers, is fraying. We need more information, not less, to prepare for what’s ahead. The country needs to know its destination before it embarks upon its journey. All we truly know from Wednesday’s speech is that the direction is uphill. He sought to reassure us that it would somehow all work out.

We need to take risks, the prime minister said. Right now, the biggest risk we are being asked to take is placing our trust in this prime minister.

David McLaughlin is a former clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary in the Manitoba government.