Canada's embattled Prime Minister Paul Martin has made a rare, nationally-televised address to apologise for a corruption scandal within his Liberal Party. The scandal hit headlines when an auditor-general's report found millions of dollars in a national unity fund had been diverted to Liberal-friendly advertising firms to promote federalism in Quebec following the narrow defeat of a separatist referendum in the French-speaking province. The scandal outraged the public when it was uncovered in 2002 and contributed to the Liberal Party's loss of its majority in parliament after federal elections last June. Calling it an "unjustifiable mess", the prime minister on Thursday pledged to call an election within 30 days of an inquiry report on the scandal. "Those who are in power are to be held responsible, and that includes me. I was the minister of finance and knowing what I have learned in the past year, I am sorry that I was not more vigilant," Martin said. "Those who have violated the public trust will be identified and will pay the consequences." Martin was finance minister under then-prime minister Jean Chretien when the corruption was alleged to have occurred.