Parliament has yet to return from the winter break, but this week will be a decisive one for political positioning in the weeks ahead.

John Manley in 2003. (Canadian Press File)

Early this week (probably Tuesday) the former Liberal deputy prime minister, John Manley, will return to Ottawa to deliver a report to the prime minister.

He, and the other prominent Canadians that make up his panel, will report on what they have collected over the past few months about Canada's mission in Afghanistan after February 2009.

They have travelled to Afghanistan. This was Manley's third visit, but no one else on the panel had been before. They have received more than 200 submissions from all kinds of places about where the mission should go from here.

Should Canada stay, go, or change what it's doing entirely? It is a difficult question made all the more difficult by the partisan politics involved.

The NDP, for instance, refused to submit anything to the panel claiming there was a foregone conclusion. The Bloc did the same.

In fact, the Liberals and the Greens were the only political parties who contributed to the panel. And even then, they were criticized for not knowing what they were talking about.

There has been plenty of speculation about what Manley may recommend. In the past, Manley has suggested that, in order for the mission to succeed, the combat role has to work hand-in-hand with the humanitarian one.

The general consensus: Manley will suggest something that runs along the middle ground.

But as Manley undoubtedly knows by now, the middle ground on the Afghanistan debate is awfully hard to find.