Prime Minister Paul Martin says his new government is ready to face the opposition in the House of Commons, starting Feb. 2.

Parliament will resume with a speech from the throne, which Martin promises will outline a busy agenda. "The speech from the throne will be at three in the afternoon. Thereafter we will proceed with our agenda, which is really quite ambitious," he told reporters after meeting with his caucus.

Martin said he'll start with the introduction of some priority legislation, such as a bill to send cheap Canadian drugs to AIDS victims in Africa, another to bring in an independent ethics commissioner, one to set up new electoral boundaries and legislation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Notably, these moves do not require a large financial commitment from the government. Martin says his expensive promises - like the promise to help Canada's big cities - are still on track. "I am very committed to a new deal for our municipalities," he said.

But, he admits, that commitment is now a long-term goal. "The mechanism, the timing, the how and when, remains to be determined."

The reason for the delay is that there is little surplus money available this year. New Treasury Board President Reg Alcock delivered that message to caucus.

Paul Martin

"Christmas is over. Listen, the fact is our ability to generate big surpluses is narrowing. The best information suggests the gap is going to be quite a bit narrower than it has been," he said.