Prime Minister Stephen Harper has unveiled a new motion with a hard end date of 2011 for Canada's military mission in Afghanistan, a move aimed at bridging the gap between the Conservatives and Liberals.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper revealed details of the government's new motion on the mission in Afghanistan while speaking before the Conference of Defence Associations.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

In a speech late Thursday morning at the Conference of Defence Associations meeting in Ottawa, Harper revealed details of the motion that will be tabled sometime after the House resumes sitting next week.

Harper said the motion will incorporate "large elements" of last week's Liberal amendment of the Conservative party's original motion.

"We've examined the details of [the Liberals'] position very carefully," said Harper. "We are pleased that there is some fundamental common ground."

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion called the new motion progress, noting that it meets 95 per cent of Liberal demands.

"We are pleased by that," he told reporters in Prince Albert, Sask., where he was campaigning with the Liberal candidate for a March 17 byelection. "We welcome the new motion, which is based on the Liberal motion."

The Conservatives' apparent willingness to compromise drew praise from other Liberals too.

"I think for today, the government has moved a long way," said former Ontario premier Bob Rae, who does not yet have a seat in Parliament, but serves as the party's foreign affairs critic.

"They've adopted much of what it is Mr. Dion and the Liberal Party were proposing."

Dion questions plans for Afghan prisoners

The motion says all Canadian troops will be out of the volatile Kandahar region by December 2011, six months later than called for by Stéphane Dion's Liberals.

Harper said the two parties also agree that operational decisions should be left to commanders on the ground in Afghanistan.

"It is a clear and principled position but it is not a Conservative position or a Liberal position," said Harper. "It is a Canadian position that can be supported by a majority of the elected representatives of Canadian people."

Dion said one area that bothers him is the way in which the motion promises that prisoners will be handed over to Afghan authorities only when doing so is "in keeping with Canada's international obligations."

Dion's proposal had called for a moratorium on detainee transfers.

He indicated he may ask for clarifications and changes during the debate on Monday and Tuesday.

"Maybe we will have to ask for amendments," he said.

Harper expects motion to be supported

Harper had declared the motion on the Afghan mission a confidence vote, meaning it could topple the minority government. 

Both the NDP and Bloc Québécois have rejected any extension to the mission currently set to end next February.

But if the Liberals accept the new motion, there would be enough votes for it to pass, eliminating at least one of several possible election triggers before Parliament.

Harper seemed confident Thursday that the motion would be ratified.

"It seems clear that we have moved significantly toward the kind of bi-partisan consensus that can be presented to Parliament for ratification," he said in the speech.

New motion still has 2 conditions

The original Conservative motion would have extended the Afghan mission until at least 2011, but only if NATO provides 1,000 extra troops to bolster Canadian efforts and Ottawa finds additional equipment.

The new motion still has those two conditions, which are based on recommendations by a panel led by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley.

Dion's Liberals had previously insisted the Canadian mission in Afghanistan end on its current expiration date of February 2009.

But in its amendment, the party made a significant concession, saying the mission could be extended with a new focus on reconstruction and training followed by the full withdrawal of Canadian troops by July 2011.

Having an end date in the new Conservative motion is significant, said Denis Coderre, the Liberal's defence critic.

"It seems that if they're taking our own wording it sends a clear message that we've been doing our homework," he said.

With files from the Canadian Press