The Conservative government has set a date for MPs to vote on the motion to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

A government source told CBC News the government is planning to hold the vote on Thursday, March 13th — roughly three weeks before Prime Minister Stephen Harper is to attend a major NATO conference in Bucharest.

The Bloc Quebecois and NDP have already decided to vote against the motion, but the Liberal Party appears ready to support it, although leader Stephane Dion says he still has questions about the mission.

Specifically, Dion says the party wants to know:

- Why the government believes a thousand more NATO troops will be sufficent to win Kandahar.
- How much it will cost for the government to buy the new helicopters and surveillance drones it says it needs?
- And will it commit to tell parliament if it chooses to resume the controversial practice of transferring Afghan detainees to Afghan jailers?

This last point, however, may now be moot. Friday, the government announced the Canadian Forces had resumed its practice of transferring its detainees to Afghan security forces.

The controversial practice was suspended last November after Canadian officials became aware of what they called credible allegations of torture in an Afghan prison.

Since then, the military says $1.5 million has been spent improving Afghan jails and an Afghan prison official has himself been detained over the allegations.