Prime Minister Paul Martin has recalled Parliament for Feb. 2, with a Throne Speech to be delivered in the afternoon outlining an "ambitious" agenda.

Martin made the announcement Wednesday during a break in two days of caucus meetings in Ottawa. He also outlined the legislation his government intends to bring back to Parliament.

He said his priorities include:

• creating an independent ethics commissioner;
• creating a new electoral map that would add seven seats to the House of Commons;
• modifying a law on patents allowing for cheaper generic AIDS drugs for Africa; and 
• reintroducing a bill to decriminalize marijuana.

Martin dismissed suggestions from reporters that he plans to scrap the gun registry.

"We are committed to gun control and we are committed to the registration of weapons," Martin said. "At the same time, common sense simply dictates there have been a number of problems.

"And that these problems have got to be looked at and got to be dealt with. And that is what the Minister of State (Albina Guarnieri) is going to be doing."

A report in The Globe and Mail Wednesday said Martin was reviewing the registry and could re-allocate the money for the program to an area such as beefing up security at borders.

Ottawa's gun registry project has been at the centre of a storm of controversy since its introduction in 1995. At the time, the project was expected to cost $2 million. It is now expected to ring in at an estimated $1 billion by 2005.

The agenda is an ambitious one by Martin's own admission. And while he says the government is cash-constrained, he hopes that a review of spending will allow for all his wishes.

"Essentially the reason that we are going through the review of spending, is to make sure that in the short term and in the longer term, we are able to really re-examine the need for lower priority items so we can focus on the higher priority items."

The caucus meetings, Martin's first since becoming PM, are an opportunity for  ministers to plot the Throne Speech, which is expected to form the basis for the Liberals' upcoming election platform.

The meetings are also a test of Martin's repeated promise to give regular MPs greater sway in shaping policy. Included among his list of parliamentary changes -- allowing more free votes in the Commons.