Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed Tuesday that his government will ask Parliament to extend Canada's military mission in Libya for another three months.
"We will participate in the mission until armed threats from (Moammar) Gadhafi's forces are eliminated from the country," Harper told reporters after attending a UN meeting on the Libya mission.
"We will ask Parliament to extend the mission by three months, but I'm going to be frank with you in saying I'm pretty optimistic we'll achieve our objectives well before that timeline."
On Tuesday morning, Harper attended a high-level United Nations meeting in New York, where world leaders gathered to discuss the challenges that lie ahead for Libya as it transitions to democracy.
The meeting was hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and included officials from countries and organizations working to help rebuild Libya, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.
Officials from Libya's new governing authority, the National Transitional Council, also attended the meeting.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the NTC president, thanked the international committee for its help in ousting Gadhafi from power after four decades of rule.
"The road before us is still long ... our needs are many," he said, adding that 25,000 Libyans died in the struggle.
Harper said Canada was proud of its role in the NATO campaign, which included sending warships and fighter jets to Libya, as well as providing more than $10 million in humanitarian aid.
"Let me just say that Canada is proud to have played a key role, forceful but measured action to protect civilians against brutal oppression and to defend core values and principles that underlie good governance, development and prosperity," Harper said.
While Canada recently renewed its commitment to NATO efforts in Libya, Harper said Ottawa will also offer advice and assistance to the transitional government that is taking the reins with the fall of Gadhafi.
"Canada will continue to support the National Transitional Council as it seeks freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights for all Libyans," Harper said.
U.S. President Barack Obama also addressed the so-called "Friends of Libya," the nations that have supported Libyan fighters in their push to knock Gadhafi from power, which gathered in New York on Tuesday.
Obama said that while there will still be challenges that lie ahead for Libya, the international community will continue to support the Libyan people in their quest for a more democratic society.
"Just as the world stood by you in your struggle to be free, we will stand with you in your struggle to realize the peace and prosperity that freedom can bring," Obama said.
Inside Libya, Gadhafi had still not been captured as of Tuesday. But he continues to broadcast messages through a Syrian-based satellite TV station, the latest of which claimed that his opponents' takeover of almost all of Libya was a "charade."
On Tuesday, Canadian Major-General Jonathan Vance told the House of Commons defence committee that the end of the Gadhafi regime is not far away.
"Those (Gadhafi) regime forces are on their way to collapse, we know it," Gen. Vance, the director of the strategic joint staff, said. "You can't peg it at any time exactly, but we're not facing years of warfare, we're not necessarily facing months of warfare, I think it's earlier than that."
During Harper's two-day trip to New York, the prime minister will also take part in a UN meeting regarding child and maternal health in the Third World, as well as a business roundtable at the New York Stock Exchange.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
