A poll that suggests just 15 per cent of Afghans want an immediate withdrawal of foreign troops isn't changing minds in Ottawa.

Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre, who travelled to Afghanistan this month against the government's wishes, said people he met displayed an attitude of "pragmatic tolerance" toward the troops.

A Canadian soldier calls in an air strike during Operation Medusa, a major offensive in Afghanistan in 2006.
(Canadian Press)

"They want security. They like us. They want us," he told CBC News on Friday.

But he doubted the situation was as rosy as the poll suggests, he said.
 
The Environics poll, conducted in partnership with the CBC, was released Thursday.

It also reported, among other things, that 43 per cent of the 1,578 Afghans surveyed said foreign troops should stay as long as it takes to get the job done and 51 per cent said they feel their country is headed in the right direction.

Coderre said it would not persuade Liberals that the Canadian combat role should continue beyond 2009. After that, Canada should refocus its efforts on development and diplomacy, letting another NATO country take a turn in combat, he said.

'I find some of the numbers quite shocking and surprising'—NDP defence critic Dawn Black

NDP defence critic Dawn Black, whose party favours an immediate pullout of Canadian troops, said the poll doesn't match what she's been hearing out of Afghanistan.

"I find some of the numbers quite shocking and surprising," she said.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay — whose government wants to extend the troops' mission to 2011 while they train Afghans to take over from them — says the poll shows that many Afghans feel safe in openly expressing their political opinions.

"Afghans are now able to take part in democratic processes like polling, and I think that's another brick in the wall as far as building the [needed] security," he said.

On the ground in Afghanistan, some Canadian soldiers said the poll confirmed what they already knew. It said that 60 per cent of those surveyed in Kandahar, where the Canadians are concentrated, have a somewhat or very positive attitude toward Canada's troops.

"You go out and you see the people and they're happy to see you," Cpl. Rob Wright told CBC News. "So I'm not surprised to see these numbers."

Warrant Officer Jeannot Ouillet said: "I'm happy about that. That means that we are not working for nothing."