PM open to compromise with Liberals on Afghan mission

The Conservative government will consider tabling a new motion to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan until the end of 2011 that could include elements from the Opposition Liberals' proposed amendment, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday.

The move could lead to a deal between the two parties to avoid a spring election being triggered over the current motion, which the prime minister has declared a confidence vote that could topple his minority government if defeated.

Earlier Tuesday, the Liberals released details of an amendment calling for an end to Canada's Afghan combat mission by next February. The amendment, which still must be tabled in the House of Commons, also calls for the mission to refocus on reconstruction and training, followed by a full withdrawal of Canadian troops by July 2011, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion told journalists at the National Press Gallery in Ottawa.

Just over an hour later, Harper called the Liberal amendment a "positive development" that is "moving the debate in the right direction" on Afghanistan, away from the "fundamentally different position" of the NDP and Bloc Québécois, which have called for the immediate withdrawal of Canadian forces.   

"The government's objective is to see common ground here so we will look at these in great detail," Harper told reporters from the Commons foyer.

MPs were expected to vote in March on the current government motion to extend the Afghan mission until 2011.

It states that "the results of progress in Afghanistan, including Canada's military deployment, will be reviewed in 2011."

Under the government plan, Canada would agree to extend the Afghan mission past an existing 2009 expiry on two conditions:

• Another NATO country would have to send 1,000 troops to fight alongside the 2,500 Canadians.
• Ottawa would have to procure transport helicopters and reconnaissance drones to help the force avoid ambushes. 

Mission 'must change': Dion

However, Dion said Canada must reshape its priorities in the mission to better suit its skills in reconstruction, but indicated the post-February 2009 mission could involve combat to protect reconstruction efforts.

"The mission must change," Dion told reporters. "The mission must have a clear end date. The mission must be more than about the military.

"The wording of the motion has been carefully chosen to maximize the possibility of an agreement for the sake of Canada, Afghanistan and the mission."

The Liberal leader said the government has had difficulty attaining the additional troops recommended in the Manley report to support Canadian forces in Kandahar province because Canada's mission lacked a "clear, firm timeline."

"You see how much NATO was surprised and unprepared by the request by Canada. We cannot repeat the same mistake," Dion said.

Dion dismissed concerns that the amendment would create a policy tantamount to the very caveats that have restricted the use of Canada's NATO allies in Afghanistan, leaving the bulk of combat to Canadian, Dutch, British and U.S. troops in the south and east of the embattled country.

"I don't call it a caveat," Dion said. "I said it's a clear design for a new mission."

For his part, Harper praised the "greater clarity" of the Liberal position, saying it backs away from any suggestion that politicians would dictate any operational decisions to military commanders.

"Afghanistan is an extremely dangerous environment, and I don't think it is realistic that military commanders would be phoning 24 Sussex every other day to ask whether they could undertake certain operations and not other operations.

"I don't think it can be a Conservative mission or a Liberal mission. It must be a Canadian mission."

Tories willing to accept end date

Earlier Tuesday, CBC News learned that the Conservative government is willing to end Canada's military mission in Afghanistan in 2011 if Parliament votes to let the mission run until then.

Sources say the government would accept that date to end questions about how long the military would have to stay in Afghanistan.

In an interview with CBC News on Tuesday, government House Leader Peter Van Loan called the dispute over the wording "a constitutional nicety," but said there was "an awful lot of common ground" to find a solution.

"We cannot tie the hands of a future Parliament, but our objective is quite clear to have this mission completed by 2011 and that's reflected in our motion," he said.

During question period, Harper elaborated on Van Loan's comments, saying the government "does not want an open-ended mission."

"In the speech from the throne, we expressed our intention to transfer responsibilities for security to the Afghan forces by 2011 and we repeated similar language in the motion that is before the House."

Amendment calls for envoy

The Liberal amendment also calls for maintaining the current suspension on the transfer of Afghan detainees to Afghan authorities until "substantive reforms of the prison system in Afghanistan are undertaken so the systemic risk of torture is eliminated."

Dion is also demanding more transparency from Conservatives regarding the mission.

He said he wants the government to submit quarterly progress reports to Parliament, and will ask for cabinet ministers to make monthly appearances before a new Commons committee on Afghanistan.

The amendment also calls for the appointment of a special envoy dedicated to ensuring "greater coherence" in Canada's diplomatic initiatives in the region and the fair treatment of Afghan detainees.

Layton blasts amendments

During question period Tuesday, NDP Leader Jack Layton repeated his opposition to extending the mission in Afghanistan. He said the Liberal and Conservative proposals will extend the war for another three years, "and that's an approach which is inherently going to take us towards more combat."

He said ending the mission in February 2009 "would launch us on a path towards peace."

His comments spurred the prime minister to speak up in defence of the mission and the Opposition.

"It isn't normally my habit to defend the Liberal party," Harper said, explaining that the Liberals sent the country into Afghanistan and directed Canada through the Second World War "because the parties that run this country understand that in a dangerous world, you sometimes have to use force to maintain peace."