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.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seen at the APEC summit in Sydney on Sunday, says he wants to see the mission in Afghanistan completed before Canadian troops are withdrawn.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

Harper said Sunday there'll be no vote in Parliament any time 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 a pan-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney.

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

With the Bloc Québécois, 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."

The Liberals said at their summer caucus they plan to bring the matter to a head as soon as the Commons returns in the 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 Canada will be pulling out its 2,500 soldiers, deployed as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

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

Without directly citing the Liberal intentions, he 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."

The Conservatives say they want Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, seen in August, to provide a firm answer about what he sees as Canada's role in Afghanistan after 2009.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

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 also 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 Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion about what he sees as Canada's role after the current military mandate expires.

Harper said he's seeking "some kind of consensus to fulfill the government's objectives and also, I think, to fulfill 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.

Harper made the comments as hundreds of Canadian troops were on the second day of a major military offensive against Taliban militants in the Zhari district, west of the city of Kandahar.

Afghanistan was also on the agenda in Victoria on Friday and Saturday, as the chiefs of defence from the 26 NATO member countries held two days of talks focused on planning, preparing and conducting NATO operations.

At the end of the talks, Canadian Gen. Ray Henault, who is the chairman of the organization's high-ranking military committee, said NATO's future as a military alliance does not hinge on a successful mission in war-torn Afghanistan.

Canada first deployed troops to Afghanistan in 2002, after the United States invaded and ousted the Taliban government in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.