The Harper government has unveiled a new motion to end the Canadian military mission in the volatile Kandahar region of Afghanistan by the end of 2011. And the Liberals appear ready to support it, apparently removing one possible election trigger.
The motion adopts wording from a Liberal amendment, though the Tories have the military leaving six months later than in the Liberal proposal.
"I don't think it's a deal-breaker," a spokesperson for Liberal leader Stéphane Dion said of the six-month difference.
"We're quite pleased that they've come quite a ways toward adopting what we've proposed."
The Tory motion also says the mission will focus on training and reconstruction, as the Liberals have demanded.
Dion wants to analyze the motion in detail before announcing if it will be supported by his party. But the initial warm response to the motion by his office suggests Liberal backing of the government motion to be a done deal.
Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre cautiously welcomed the new motion.
"There's progress that there's an end date,'" he said. "It seems that if they're taking our own wording it sends a clear message that we've been doing our homework and now there's room." Source...
