OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says the prime minister should make it clear that Canada will soon withdraw from its current combat role in Afghanistan when he meets with U.S. President George W. Bush next week.
"The prime minister should notify to NATO, the Americans and the government of Afghanistan that our combat mission in Kandahar will effectively end in February 2009,'' Dion told a news conference Friday.
"The more we wait, the less we are a good partner for our allies.''
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon for two days at the beginning of next week for a summit in Montebello, Que.
Harper will also hold separate, private talks with Calderon on Wednesday.
The prime minister has made it clear this summer that Canada's combat role in Afghanistan will end in February 2009. Initially, he said no decision on the future of the mission would be made without a parliamentary consensus.
Last month, he said NATO's failure to persuade other countries to take on combat duties in southern Afghanistan made it impossible for Canada to consider extending its fighting role there.
The PM should also use the summit to insist that no new trade deals be negotiated that would allow fresh water to be removed from Canada, Dion added.
"Prime Minister Harper must advise President Bush that Canada will not negotiate the bulk removal of water from any drainage basins in Canada.''
As well, Ottawa should insist that the United States crack down on gun smuggling into Canada, he said.
"It is estimated that more than half of gun crimes committed in Canada's major cities are with guns smuggled into our country from the United States,'' Dion said.
"Instead of weakening gun control in Canada, Mr. Harper should strengthen the control of illegal trafficking of guns across our border.''
Dion also insisted that Harper demand that terror suspect Omar Khadr be removed from the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transferred to the United States to be tried in a legitimate court.
Khadr is among 14 so-called "high-value'' detainees who were declared by the Pentagon earlier this month as enemy combatants.
The decision means Khadr and the others will be held indefinitely at the detention centre and put on trial for war crimes in a military system mired in legal challenges and hampered by lengthy delays.
The trial system has been called into question by recent court rulings, including a decision by one military judge to throw out a case against Khadr over the wording of the "enemy combatant'' designation.
Khadr, now 20, was captured when he was a 15 years old during a firefight with U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2002.
He was charged with homicide for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. army medic.
Khadr must be given the same legal protection from Canada that would be offered to any other Canadian citizen, including help from Canada's consular officials in the U.S., said Dion.
