It has been said that the Sun Valley Conference "attracts more moguls than a double-black ski run." The annual gathering of media owners and executives was also the location of Paul Martin's first major post-election speech.
At the multi million dollar resort, Martin told billionaires like Disney's Michael Eisner, Fox's Rupert Murdoch, and investor Warren Buffet that there needs to be "massive international cooperation" to enforce free trade rules. "It's time that we understood our responsibilities as joint stewards of North America and those areas where... our interests intersect."
Martin also touched on Canada's role in US military invasions outside of North America, and advocated for a greater US and Canadian role in "failed states."
"It is true that fragile states often require military intervention to restore stability. You in the United States know this, and so does Canada."
Martin stressed the case of Haiti, where he said that Canadian, French and US forces hadn't "stayed long enough" to set up institutions during previous interven.
Some critics have repeatedly blasted Martin and the commercial and government-owned media for ignoring the four-year campaign aimed at destabilizing Haiti, led by the US. Martin, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, and a number of mainstream journalists have declined to respond to accusations and questions in this vein.
--Dru Oja Jay
» PMO: Transcript of Prime Minister Paul Martin`s speech at the Sun Valley 2004 Conference
» Toronto Star: Private speech in Idaho on PM's agenda
The Dominion is a monthly paper published by an incipient network of independent journalists in Canada. It aims to provide accurate, critical coverage that is accountable to its readers and the subjects it tackles. Taking its name from Canada's official status as both a colony and a colonial force, the Dominion examines politics, culture and daily life with a view to understanding the exercise of power.