Liberal Leader Stephane Dion promised on Thursday that a government led by him would not extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan beyond early 2009.
"We have decided as a party that we will say to the world -- when we will be in the power with support of Canadians ... that we are out of the combat mission in Kandahar for 2009," Dion said Thursday, appearing on Â鶹´«Ã½net's Mike Duffy Live.
"There is no ambiguity about that," he said.
The Liberal leader also said he would inform NATO right away that the deadline was firm and that it must find a replacement nation.
"We need to find a country to replace us right now and to help us in the meantime to succeed, we need more help from the NATO countries," Dion said.
Earlier in the day, Dion said in a speech to students at the University of Montreal that Afghans associated Canadians with fighting rather than rebuilding because of the Conservative government.
"Total coalition spending on military operations in Afghanistan outpaces spending on development and reconstruction by 900 per cent. Today, only 20 per cent of Canada's development assistance to Afghanistan is spent in Kandahar. This imbalance must be corrected," he said.
"Between now and 2009, a Liberal government I lead will adopt a more integrated strategy in Kandahar, with a greater development and diplomatic thrust, and a real effort to win the hearts and minds of Afghans."
He also said Canada should take the next two years of its mission to make significant progress dealing with the illegal opium drug trade in Afghanistan.
"We need to focus more on aid, more on the replacement of the opium economy, which is a big problem, and we need to address the shortage of fresh water," Dion told Â鶹´«Ã½net.
"It's what I have proposed as a policy for my country and in Afghanistan in the next two years. This is the decision of the whole caucus that I have expressed today," Dion said.
Opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 per cent to 6,700 tons -- enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. That's more than 90 per cent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.
When Dion took over the Liberal Party, he said he would have little patience with a mounting death toll in Afghanistan unless the mission proved more successful.
But he faced opposition from MPs, including deputy leader Michael Ignatieff, who are vehemently against an early pullout.
The minority Conservative government pushed through the extension of the mission from 2007 to 2009 last year.
Dion, who opposed the extension of the mission to 2009, defended his actions when asked why he changed his position on the issue.
The Liberal leader said the decision to extend the mission was a unilateral one made by the prime minister.
"He imposed (this on) us without any debate and without any negotiations with the other countries," Dion told Â鶹´«Ã½net.
About 2,500 Canadians troops are serving in Afghanistan, with most in the southern city of Kandahar.
Since the mission began in 2002, 44 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.
