Ontario Liberal MP Derek Lee, left, and NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar told CBC's Power & Politics they want the government to release all documents related to the Afghan detainee situation. (CBC)

A Liberal MP is threatening to table a motion in the House of Commons that, if passed, could see the government in contempt of Parliament for not complying with a House Standing Order to produce unredacted documents about the handling of Afghan detainees by the Canadian Forces.

Ontario MP Derek Lee, who has drafted the three-part motion, said the government hasn't complied with requests to release the documents, one made by the Afghanistan committee looking into the detainee situation and the other by an order of the House.

"If the government doesn't deliver on the House order, and the majority in the House feels this way, they can find the government or a person in contempt and go about seizing the documents … just as a court would," Lee told CBC's Power & Politics.

Lee, who waged a year long-battle in 1991 with the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney over a parliamentary committee's right to see government documents and won, said he hopes the government will act accordingly with parliamentary law and procedure.

"Otherwise, there's confrontation coming between the government and the House of Commons," he said.

Lee said he would not move such a motion before Wednesday's throne speech or Thursday's tabling of the budget but could do so as early as Friday after consulting with his colleagues.

"I've got my finger on the trigger," he said. "But I won't pull it unless I think it's in the best interest of Parliament and the country."

Commenting on Lee's proposed motion, the Prime Minister's Office released a statement to Power & Politics, saying, "Our primary focus remains the economy. As the government first made it clear over a month ago, the special committee on Afghanistan will be reconstituted. Officials have and will continue to provide all legally available documents."

NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar rejected the PMO's letter, saying the Afghanistan committee requested a list of documents that the government didn't supply, and he said those it did provide were heavily censored. Dewar tabled the motion on behalf of the committee to compel the government to release those documents.

Dewar said he sent a letter to Attorney General Rob Nicholson on Feb. 3, asking whether the government will comply with the House order.

"To date, we haven't heard from him and that's what needs to happen next," Dewar said. "Is Mr. Nicholson going to comply and is his government going to comply with the order? Yes or no?"