A Liberal MP who is threatening to table a motion that could hold the government in contempt if it does not produce unredacted documents about the Afghan detainee affair said he doesn't believe the issue will spark an election.

Liberal MP Derek Lee speaks in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Sept. 25, 2006. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

"I am pretty sure as an elected politician now that Canadians don’t want an election," Ontario MP Derek Lee told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday. "But if there's going to be one, it has to be a big issue, it has to be a clear issue, there has to be an impasse that's unresolvable in the House and I don’t quite see that yet."

Lee said he doesn't think it's necessary to "go to the wall" on this.

"I think that we can all walk and chew gum at the same time, and asserting a parliamentary procedural authority is probably not something that Canadians want to go to an election at this time."

Lee's motion alleges the government has breached the privilege of Parliament by its refusal to comply with requests to release the documents relating to the handling of Afghan detainees by the Canadian Forces. That breach includes a motion passed in Parliament in December, compelling the government to release the documents unredacted.

So far, the government has said it cannot because it's a matter of national security. The Conservatives have also hinted that they would consider any such motion a matter of confidence in the government, which could potentially trigger an election.

"This is not a question of confidence in the government," Lee said. "It’s a question of someone asserting his or her own constitutional right. And I am doing that for Canadians on behalf of Parliament.

Lee said he is taking this initiative on his own, not on behalf of his party.