BAR ALLIANCE MP FROM HOUSE FOR 'LONG TIME': BOUDRIA

OTTAWA - A Liberal Cabinet minister says a Canadian Alliance MP should be
barred from Parliament for "a long time" for angrily picking up the Mace in
what may be the worst breach of Commons decorum on record.

Don Boudria, the Public Works Minister, said Keith Martin, an Alliance MP
from British Columbia, must receive a strong punishment for grabbing the
Mace and hoisting it on Wednesday night.

"This man shouldn't be sitting in the Commons for a long time. 'Long time'
to be defined by the Speaker and others, and not the House leaders. Rapping
knuckles isn't good enough for something like this," Mr. Boudria said.

Mr. Martin grabbed the Mace - the golden rod that symbolizes the authority
of the Speaker - after the Liberals used what he called "a poison pill"
amendment to kill his private member's bill to decriminalize possession of
marijuana.

"Parliament is not a democracy any more!" shouted Mr. Martin, complaining
that he had wasted four years of effort, before putting the rod back and
marching out in protest. Other MPs followed.

Mr. Martin later apologized, but faces a possible charge of gross contempt
of Parliament and could be called to the Bar of the House of Commons for an
exceptional reprimand by the Speaker.

Ralph Goodale, the Government House leader, immediately lodged a formal
complaint against Mr. Martin for breach of parliamentary privilege. "There
could be no more serious affront to the dignity, decorum and order of the
House than that," he said.

Opposition MPs said they do not condone what Mr. Martin did, but added the
government should also be held accountable for using undemocratic tactics
to kill a widely supported bill.

"It's easy to know it's wrong, but I think he had to make a point," Bill
Casey, a Tory MP.

"What the Liberals did renders meaningless the powers given to MPs to bring
forward private member's bills. It was a travesty of democracy," Gilles
Duceppe, the Bloc Quebecois leader, said.