SUSPENDED ALLIANCE MP EXPECTED TO APOLOGIZE

Ottawa -- A rare vote of censure was levelled against Canadian Alliance MP
Keith Martin Tuesday for touching the ceremonial mace of the House of
Commons, earning him a suspension until he makes a formal apology before
the bar of the Commons.

The suspension is likely to be short-lived, however, as Dr. Martin said
Tuesday night he had already met with Speaker Peter Milliken to agree on
the wording of his apology, and expects to say he is sorry Wednesday.

Touching the mace, the symbol of order in the Commons, is considered a
violation of a sacrosanct parliamentary tradition _ and is always a
violation of the rules.

Although he admitted that he broke the rules, Dr. Martin was unrepentant
after Tuesday night's vote, saying he did what he had to do to draw
attention to what he called the muzzling of Parliament.

The Liberals pushed the punishment after Dr. Martin grabbed the House of
Commons mace in anger last week to call attention to the way in which the
Liberals amended a bill of his that urged the decriminalization of
marijuana. The amendment essentially shut down debate on the bill.

"I hope that what is not forgotten is . . . the fact that Parliament is now
a dictatorship and MPs have their hands and legs bound together," Dr.
Martin said in an interview Tuesday. "And we must reform Parliament so that
we can truly become public servants and the House can work for the public
good instead of [for] the Prime Minister's Office."

The ornamental mace is the symbol of order in the House of Commons and of
the authority of the Speaker. It is a tradition carried down the centuries
from the House of Commons in England, where it was once wielded as a
practical weapon by the Speaker's sergeants-at-arms to arrest without
warrant people who offended the Commons.

Symbolically, touching the mace is a quasi-revolutionary act, but House
Leader Ralph Goodale said the more important thing is that it is a display
of disrespect for the Commons and the Speaker.

The Alliance had attempted to head off the censure motion against Dr.
Martin, putting forward an amendment that less formal apologies Dr. Martin
had offered should be good enough. That amendment was voted down by the
Liberals and some opposition MPs, including Alliance MPs Jason Kenney, Roy
Bailey and Jay Hill.

Mr. Goodale said Dr. Martin's apologies had been qualified, and included
caveats. "He has to offer an apology that is clear-cut and unequivocal in a
way that is satisfactory to the Speaker of the House of Commons," he said.

Mr. Goodale said Dr. Martin had indicated he had planned to touch the mace,
which he said made the transgression worse.

Dr. Martin said he had thought for a long time about touching the mace, and
was moved to do so when the Liberals cut off his
marijuana-decriminalization bill.

In the end, nearly all the Alliance MPs voted with the rest of the Commons
to censure Dr. Martin, in a vote of 221-1. Alliance MP John Cummins, of
Delta-South Richmond, voted against the censure.

"The House has basically decided that he should apologize, and I'm hoping
he does that quickly and gets back into the House," Alliance MP Vic Toews said.

He said Dr. Martin's actions illustrated the frustrations of many MPs, but
Alliance MPs voted for censure "because we wanted to move this issue along."

Dr. Martin will now be called to the bar of the House _ a relatively rare
formal discipline reminiscent of an errant schoolboy being called before
the principal _ to apologize.

Being called before the bar for questioning was the traditional procedure
for dealing with people accused of contempt of Parliament.