OTTAWA - The Liberal defence critic says he's headed on an unauthorized fact-finding trip to Afghanistan after having his request to visit the troops consistently ignored by the Harper government.
Denis Coderre says he's set to leave for Kabul and Kandahar to visit with development workers, Afghan government officials and Canadian soldiers.
"(Afghanistan) is a major issue for the Canadian people,'' Coderre said in an interview Saturday.
"I think that for the sake of the debate it's important that I go. Since I couldn't get an answer I decided to go on my own.''
The Montreal-area MP says he's made multiple requests with Defence Minister Peter MacKay's office but that they were systematically ignored or rejected. He said he first asked to go when Gordon O'Connor was defence minister but sometimes didn't get his calls returned.
Coderre says that he has the full blessing of his leader, Stephane Dion, and that his boss has also informed the Harper government that Coderre wants to go to Afghanistan.
While visiting dignitaries generally use transportation supplied by the Department of National Defence, Coderre has made his own travel arrangements to Afghanistan and within the country.
He does not yet have permission from the Canadian government to visit the international base in Kandahar but says he's confident that he will be allowed to meet with the troops.
"Since (all requests) passed through the defence minister's office, I would see it as a partisan gesture from the defence minister if I'm denied access,'' he said.
The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois want Canada to scale back its fighting operations in Afghanistan once the current mission expires in February 2009, while the government wants to continue. The NDP wants troops withdrawn immediately.
With a potential election looming, the future of the Afghan mission could be a matter of intense debate this fall.
But Coderre shrugged off any suggestion that he's about to embark on an intercontinental political stunt.
"It's not a stunt. I'm doing my job,'' he said.
"I think that as a member of Parliament and as a National Defence critic, it's important for me to know what's going on in the field, at the diplomatic level, at the development level and of course at the military level.''
The government has repeatedly accused its opponents of failing to support the troops. Prime Minister Stephen Harper even once implied that opposition parties were Taliban-lovers when they raised concerns about the treatment of detainees.
But Coderre says his party's support for the soldiers overseas is unconditional.
"Democracy demands that we ask questions,'' he said.
"We can question this government's mismanagement of the mission. But we do support the troops.''
