SUSPENDED MP APOLOGIZES FOR DECORUM BREACH

OTTAWA -- One day after he was suspended from the House of Commons,
Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin formally apologized for grabbing
the ceremonial mace last week.

In a statement to Speaker Peter Milliken and his fellow MPs at the
bar of the Commons yesterday, Dr. Martin said he hoisted the symbol
of parliamentary authority in a "gesture of protest."

"It is with regret that I find myself standing here before this House
at the bar, but it is understandable that I find myself here," he
said. "It was wrong for me to take the mace, the symbol of the
dignity and authority of the House, into my hands as a gesture of
protest. . . . I ask that you accept this apology in the spirit in
which it is afforded."

Mr. Milliken immediately asked the Vancouver Island MP to resume his seat.

On Tuesday, the House voted 173-49 to suspend Dr. Martin until he
apologized for what he admitted was a premeditated act of civil
disobedience.

Dr. Martin grabbed the large gilded club last week after his private
member's bill to decriminalize marijuana was quashed by the Liberals
in what he called a "poison pill" amendment. The MP for
Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca apologized informally to the House shortly
after the incident. But during a two-hour debate on the matter on
Monday, he said his action was deliberate and he had no regrets.

Yesterday, Dr. Martin said it was wrong for him to have done so. "I
have reflected on my actions and had the benefit of hearing my
colleagues speak eloquently about this place and about the respect
that must be accorded to it."