Latest on ending the mission in '09

[McG]

This is the first time I’ve seen in print that the PM does want to press ahead with the military mission.  This is reassuring.  It is the right thing to do.  Lets hope we start to hear this more often and lets hope that it is the signal that the information campaign is about to start informing Canadians. 

No rush on Afghan mission extension vote: Harper
Updated Sun. Sep. 9 2007 11:48 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there will be no parliamentary vote on Canada's role in Afghanistan unless an opposition party supports his desire to extend the mission after February 2009.

Harper told reporters after the APEC Summit in Sydney, Australia that there is no rush for a debate or vote.

He wants Canada to "finish the job" in Afghanistan.

Canadian troops have been in Afghanistan since late 2001 and began their current assignment in insurgent-ridden Kandahar province in February 2006.

The Liberal Opposition -- which sent Canadian troops to Afghanistan while in government -- wants to introduce a motion early in the fall session of Parliament that will seek a vote to confirm Canada's military mission will end as scheduled.

The Canadian mission had originally been scheduled to end in February 2007, but in May 2006, Parliament voted 149-145 to extend it for another two years.

The Bloc Quebecois wants to see the mission end in February 2009, and the NDP has called for Canada's combat role in Afghanistan to end immediately.

In an interview broadcast Sept. 1 on CTV's Question Period, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said NATO knows it cannot count on Canada's troops remaining in Kandahar province after February 2009.

"The signal that has been sent already is that our current configuration will end in February, 2009. Obviously the aid work and the diplomatic effort and presence will extend well beyond that. The Afghan compact itself goes until 2011," he said.

"But the way the mission is currently configured, with respect to our presence in Kandahar, there is an expiration date that has been set."

A spokesman later said that the minister meant that NATO knows the Canadian mission is scheduled to end in 2009, and that a parliamentary vote is required for an extension.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion accused the Tories of trying to confuse Canadians on where they really stood.

Parliament resumes sitting on Oct. 16.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070909/harper_afghan_070909/20070909?hub=TopStories

 

[The Bread Guy]

A touch more detail from another source - usual disclaimer applies.

Harper wants troops to 'finish job' in Afghanistan; dims hope for quick vote
Bruce Cheadle, Canadian Press, 9 Sept 07
Article link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set the benchmark for what might be called winning conditions on a vote to extend Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

Harper said Sunday there'll be no vote in Parliament anytime soon unless he can find enough support to ensure his wish to "finish the job." "I don't see the necessity of rushing into a vote unless we're able to have a situation where a vote would be successful - where there would be some agreement among at least some of the opposition parties that would carry the day and would give a mandate to our Armed Forces," Harper told reporters following the end of an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney.

Harper announced in June that the current military mission, set to expire in February 2009, would continue only if his minority Conservative government could get a consensus in Parliament.

With the Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Liberals all lined up against an extension, many pundits argued Harper was throwing in the towel after publicly declaring that Canada would never "cut and run."

Not so, Harper said Sunday.

"I want to finish the mission. At the same time, I want to ensure that when we have men and women in uniform in the field in a dangerous position, that they have the support of their Parliament."

Harper said he's seeking "some kind of consensus to fulfil the government's objectives and also, I think, to fulfil everybody's objectives of seeing Canadian troops leave - I hope would leave - when we've actually finished the job we've committed to do."

He said that job entails getting Afghan military and police forces to the point where they can provide security for their own country.

The Liberals said at their summer caucus they plan to bring the matter to a head when the Commons returns this fall by engineering an opposition day vote confirming the combat mission should end in 2009.

(.....)

While the official end of the mandate is more than a year off, NATO will be seeking as much lead time as possible in knowing whether the 2,000-plus Canadian military contingent in the Kandahar region is pulling out.

Harper has indicated a willingness to alter the existing military mandate, but not to pulling the troops out of Afghanistan altogether.

The prime minister said the mission should not be treated as "a political football in this Parliament."

"And I think it's irresponsible that it is a political football," said Harper. "So we're not going to put people in that place again."

Harper said he's still seeking a consensus, but a government official later said that consensus has to be in line with the government's wishes.

The official said that "consensus" means 50-per-cent plus one MP in a parliamentary vote.

By that definition, some might argue there is already a consensus in the Commons to end the mission in 2009.

But the Conservatives point out there is division within Liberal ranks on the matter. They're hoping to flush those divisions into the open and get a firm answer from Dion about what he sees as Canada's role after the current military mandate expires.