The global economic crisis will only end when the United States and other countries fix their financial systems, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says in an interview with CTV's Question Period.
"The stimulus spending can help sustain economic activity and employment, but we cannot turn a corner on the recession until the United States, and others, truly fix their financial systems," Harper said.
The prime minister is currently in New York where he has taken his message to the U.S. airwaves, promoting Canada's banking system.
On Sunday morning, Harper appeared on Fox News, where a late-night host made controversial remarks about the Canadian military earlier this month. He was also expected to appear on CNN on Monday.
Speaking to Question Period, he said a major part of his message is the need to avoid protectionist measures, as countries try to boost their economies.
"If we fall into the trap of protectionism, that is the one thing that can ensure we do not emerge from this recession for a very long time," he warned.
Harper said his government has tried to reduce trade barriers by tabling three free-trade agreements before Parliament. In the last budget, Ottawa also sought to reduce tariffs on imported machinery and equipment.
Harper only gave two interviews before his U.S. trip, which marks the second such visit in a month. Conservative spokesperson Kory Teneycke said Canadian reporters would be "disappointed" if they tried to follow the prime minister to Washington and New York.
On Question Period, Harper defended his decision to take his message to the U.S. while leaving the Canadian media behind.
"The reality is that we've got a global economy and we can only address these (problems) globally, through global action, and that means the prime minister must engage in a global dialogue," he said.
"It's not enough to preach to the choir here at home. We've got to make sure that everybody understands our message and that we're all pushing in the same direction. If every major country goes out and tries to fix its own economy, and it does so in a way at the expense of others, we will not solve the problem of the global recession."
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae said Harper was right about the need to fix the U.S. financial system, but said Canada must work harder to get credit flowing again.
"I think the prime minister is a little bit complacent about the extent to which this is still an issue in Canada," he said.
Canada in Afghanistan
Harper also spoke about Canada's military commitments in Afghanistan, and said U.S. President Barack Obama's plan for the war-torn country now mirrors Canada's own.
"Our goal, victory in Afghanistan, is not defeating every last insurgent. "Afghanistan has had an insurgency almost from the beginning of its history," he said. "The goal is to make sure we can contain the insurgency, and train the Afghan forces so they can be responsible for the day-to-day security of their own country."
Last Friday, Obama said he would be sending another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, on top of the 17,000 soldiers already approved for deployment. He also said he wanted to boost diplomacy with Russia, Iran and China -- countries that also have a stake in Afghanistan's stability.
Canada has lost 116 military personnel since the war began, and its forces will end military operations in the country in 2011. Some of the U.S. soldiers heading to Afghanistan will help relieve Canadian troops in Kandahar.
"This is very good news. One of the conditions of the extension of our mission in Kandahar was getting a military partner in Kandahar province," said Harper.
"Obviously, the Americans are that partner and they're bringing in far more troops than we had initially believed we needed or hoped for."
The prime minister also warned that Canada's mission in Afghanistan will still be dangerous after 2011, when soldiers will focus on reconstruction and training Afghan forces.
"We will continue to have a combat role; you can't provide a vigorous training support to the Afghan security forces unless that involves direct combat exposure yourself," said Harper. "So it will continue to be a dangerous mission, notwithstanding the fact we will be vastly reinforced for the American presence."
Paul Dewar, the NDP foreign affairs critic, said Canada needs to rethink its approach to Afghanistan in the years leading up to 2011.
"The every-day Afghan isn't seeing their life improve. In fact, life has gotten worse over the last couple of years for many of them," he said.
"The question is what are we going to do about it? I think that when we see our prime minister say we're there until 2011 with our military mission and that's it, I think that's cold comfort -- first of all, to Afghans. And it's confusing to Canadians as to why we remain in that part of the mission."
Dewar said Canadians need to plan "a diplomatic kind of surge, and we haven't seen that from our government."
