[R-G] Canadian parties show signs of Afghan compromise

[Anthony Fenton]

Full text of Liberal amendment: http://www.liberal.ca/story_13576_e.aspx

Canadian parties show signs of Afghan compromise
Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:27pm EST
  By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren

http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCAN1222885820080212? 
pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's minority government and the main  
opposition party signaled their desire on Tuesday to find a  
compromise position on the country's military mission in Afghanistan,  
easing the likelihood of an election over the divisive issue.

The ruling Conservatives have said that if Parliament does not extend  
the mission in the southern city of Kandahar, currently scheduled to  
end in February 2009, the government would fall and Canada would head  
into an election.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday that the opposition  
Liberals and the Conservatives now fundamentally agree that the 2,500  
troops should stay until 2011, and both he and Liberal leader  
Stephane Dion talked about finding common ground.

"We are willing in good faith to explore ... if there is a common  
ground with our motion that may allow an agreement," Dion said after  
presenting a series of proposals that would replace a government  
motion on the Afghan mission.

The Liberals plan would keep the troops in Afghanistan until July  
2011, but they would concentrate on training Afghan forces and  
providing security for reconstruction and development.

The idea is to wind down the active combat mission against the  
Taliban, though this language was absent from the Liberal text.

The mission in Kandahar is one of the most controversial topics in  
domestic politics. Polls regularly show that about half of Canadians  
want the soldiers back on schedule.

Less than half an hour after Dion finished speaking, Harper told  
reporters he welcomed the Liberal Party's ideas.

  "The government's objective is to seek common ground here so we  
will look at these in great detail, with the express intention of  
trying to find common ground," he said.

"But I think this is a positive development and one that I think is  
moving the debate in the right direction."

The Conservatives were elected with a minority of seats in the House  
of Commons in January 2006, defeating the Liberals.

They say they would like to govern until the fixed election date of  
October 2009, but they have set a series of confidence votes for the  
next several weeks -- over a crime bill, Afghanistan and the budget  
-- which could force an election before then.

The Conservatives, who need the support of at least one opposition  
party in the House to pass legislation, survived one confidence test  
on Tuesday afternoon, a motion urging the Liberal-dominated Senate to  
pass a crime bill by March 1.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said that if the Senate does not pass  
the legislation by then, he would recommend that Harper treat this as  
a matter of confidence too. The motion is not binding on the  
appointed Senate.

Polls show the most likely result of an election now would be another  
fragile minority Conservative government, though some polls have  
suggested the Liberals could win a minority.

Among remaining differences between the two parties is that the  
Conservatives had not wanted to decree an end to Canada's military  
engagement in 2011, while the Liberals want 2011 to be a firm  
deadline to prevent a "never-ending" war.

The Conservatives and Liberals agree that the soldiers should stay  
only if the NATO alliance sends more troops to Kandahar and if Canada  
is able to secure medium-lift helicopters as well as unmanned aerial  
vehicles.

(Editing by Rob Wilson)