NDP Leader Jack Layton said the current mission is Afghanistan "is not going to succeed," and that the country must take a new direction in the new year.
"I think that no Canadian wants to abandon Afghanistan, but they want an approach that's actually going to work," he said Thursday.
Layton said the new direction should be attaining peace through negotiating a ceasefire with all sides, and that Canada should be focusing on aid and reconstruction.
He also promised to make a "major speech" on the proposed changes in January.
"We're going to lay out in more detail exactly how that might happen," he said.
Layton made the comments during an end-of-year conversation with CTV's Mike Duffy Live, during which he spoke on a number of issues surrounding the federal NDP party.
Most notable was the mistaken accusation leveled by NDP MP Irene Mathyssen that a Conservative MP was viewing images of a "scantily-clad woman" on his computer in the House of Commons.
Layton said he was made aware of her intentions only moments before the accusations were laid, but that the issue was now behind them.
"When she discovered that it was the girlfriend apparently, she accepted that and apologized for it," he said. "I think when a party apologizes for making a mistake, that's a good thing and you move on."
Layton also touched on the Mulroney-Schreiber affair, saying he believed it could threaten to hurt the way Canadians view their government.
"I think this is what Canadians are reacting to -- this idea that money gets passed around, cash in envelopes of whatever colour in hotel rooms, in restaurants -- and they're beginning to ask themselves what do we have to do to get a clean government," he said.
Other topics Layton spoke on during the conversation included:
- the NDP's "good traction" in Quebec, including a federal by-election victory by Thomas Muclair;
- Harper's appointment of more than 1,000 people without the use of an appointment's commissioner;
- the Conservative's failure to address wait times in the health care system; and,
concerns that announced tax cuts will result in less money to be spent on working class families and growing poverty.
When asked about whether he thought Canadians wanted an election to be called early next year, Layton said they would accept it as a chance for change.
"I don't know that Canadians ever really want an election. But I know a lot of people feel Mr. Harper's taking the country in the wrong direction," Layton said. "I think they would accept it as an opportunity to get the country on track on a lot of issues."
