The first step in Canada's exit strategy from Afghanistan will be for Canadians to shed the rose-coloured glasses about what can be accomplished over the next three years, says a senior Conservative minister.

The best Canada can hope for in Afghanistan in the short-term is that it will become a "viable state," Trade Minister David Emerson said Thursday during a weekly briefing.

"I don't think any of us should be under the illusion that Afghanistan is going to be a thriving, prosperous democracy by 2011.

"But we hope we can get to the point where Afghanistan has become a viable state and we can normalize Canada's relationship," said Emerson, chair of a cabinet committee overseeing Ottawa's war-and-development strategy.

At last week's NATO summit in Bucharest, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada would set its own benchmarks and goals in Kandahar province, which will pave the way for withdrawal.

Emerson, a former business executive, said the cabinet committee is setting those priorities.

"Our committee will be paying particular attention to being realistic as to what we can achieve by 2011."

Reducing casualties a priority

Among the immediate goals is to reduce the number of casualties as Canadian soldiers battle Taliban insurgents in frustrating hide-and-seek warfare, Emerson suggested.

Since 2002, 82 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in the strife-torn region.

Parliament recently approved an extension to the Afghan mission, which had been slated to expire next year.

NATO has come up with reinforcements as well as extra equipment. The presence of Canadian troops, diplomats and development workers is now assured until July 2011.

The benchmarks, which the government hopes to point to in three years in order to declare the mission accomplished, will touch on security, governance, economic development and education.

"You have to think that if our military role ceases in 2011, we have to look at what we're doing to ensure that the legacy we leave behind does not crumble because the military is out of there," he said.

"These things are always very easy to talk about, but very hard to do ... but we're going to take out best shot at it."

The committee, which includes all ministers who have a responsibility for Afghan projects, has been trying to establish a clear picture of the Kandahar situation.

Emerson was hesitant to predict precisely what kind of Kandahar the Canadians will leave behind, but emphasized that the hopes and expectations of the Afghans themselves are being taken into account.

"We are consulting with them about what the key priorities should be in their minds," he said.

"There's not much point having benchmarks that are critical to Afghanistan's future and Afghanistan doesn't buy into them."

'Direct threat' remains: Hillier

Meanwhile, the country's top military commander gave the House of Commons foreign affairs committee a cautious assessment of the insurgency on the ground.

"The direct threat is still very real," said Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff.

"The mission continues in a positive direction, but that threat remains high especially in the south of Afghanistan and especially, from our perspective, in the west and north of Kandahar city itself."

Hillier said the move toward normalization is still being hindered by the absence of international aid groups, which largely abandoned Kandahar in 2006 when fighting escalated.