Gun control and Afghanistan dominated the debate during question period as the House of Commons returned from its summer recess.

The Montreal shootings that killed 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa and wounded more than a dozen others have reopened debate over Canada's gun laws and the minority Conservative government's plan to axe Canada's gun registry.

Interim Liberal Leader Bill Graham opened Monday's question period within moments, asking the Conservative government to strengthen the gun laws.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded by saying that the recent events do in fact prove that current laws do not protect Canadians.

"We take no pleasure on this side of the House for having warned the previous government repeatedly over the past decade that the gun registry would not prevent this kind of occurrence," he said.

The prime minister pointed out that his government has already introduced legislation that would mean stiffer penalties for violent crime, including mandatory minimum sentences.

Harper also added that he had asked RCMP officials to accumulate all the facts pertaining to the case so that the government can prevent violent people from access to firearms.

Later on CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live, Harper said it was "not acceptable" that an "apparently unstable individual was able to accumulate an arsenal of weapons.

"Let me assure the viewers we will undertake whatever steps are necessary to prevent that kind of tragedy," he told guest host Dave Rutherford.

Gov't defends Afghan mission

Meanwhile, the latest news of four Canadian casualties in Afghanistan again raised concerns about the combat mission in that country.

Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, which has evolved into predominantly active combat over the summer, is another hot issue, with the Bloc Quebecois demanding an emergency debate when Parliament reconvenes and the NDP calling to bring troops home.
 
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe called on Harper to hold the debate before he makes his first address to the assembly as Canada's prime minister on Thursday, suggesting Harper only outlines his foreign policy when he is abroad.

"We want to have an emergency debate on this issue -- the prime minister is going to set out his vision, his view, not here, but elsewhere," said Duceppe, who accused Harper of aligning himself with the foreign policy of the United States, Australia and Great Britain.

"The leader of the Bloc should wait to hear my speech at the UN on Thursday to hear what I am going to say," Harper responded.

But the opposition kept up its onslaught of questions.

"The government of Canada has just announced a new contingent of some 200 soldiers that will be added to the troops in Afghanistan. The government has authorized the extension of this mission in Afghanistan without giving us any information, we would like to know whether new continent will be limited in time or is it just the first installment that will be followed by many other installments later on?" Bloc MP Claude Bachand asked.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor responded by offering his condolences to the friends and family of the four casualties.

"In response to the question, the military made an assessment that they needed additional infantry and armour and engineers to fulfill their requirements in the area, to provide better security for both their reconstruction efforts and security forces, and we have provided with what they needed," he said.

Harper added that the four servicemen killed Monday died at the hand of a suicide bomber while they were handing candy out to village children.

"I think nothing more than this incident illustrates the evil that they are fighting and the goodwill and nobleness of the cause they are taking to the Afghan people,'' Harper told the House of Commons.

NDP Leader Jack Layton, who has called for Canada to withdraw from Afghanistan, accused Harper of making up his policy on the fly.

"The greatest respect that we can show for our soldiers serving abroad, and they are brave and they are courageous because they are doing what our country asked them to do, is to consider very, very carefully what we're asking them to do,'' Layton said.

New poll

Despite the tough going in Afghanistan over the past few weeks, a new Strategic Counsel poll for CTV and The Globe and Mail finds 42 per cent of respondents supporting the sending of troops to Afghanistan, compared to 49 per cent who are opposed.

Polling for that survey was conducted between Sept. 14 and 17 -- or just before four more Canadian soldiers died Monday in a suicide bombing -- and involved 1,000 people. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The  new poll shows a rise in support of five percentage points compared to a similar poll conducted between Aug. 10 and 13, and and a drop of six percentage points in opposition. The high-water mark of support occurred in a poll conducted between March 8 and 12. At that time 55 per cent of respondents supported the mission, versus 41 per cent who did not. 

While support is up six points in Quebec, only 27 per cent of respondents there supported the mission, versus 67 per cent who did not (because of the smaller sample size, the margin of error is much higher for regional breakouts). The West shows the strongest support, with 49 per cent of respondents behind the mission.

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents did look on the price of casualties as being too high, compared to  36 per cent who felt that's the price that must be paid to bring peace and stability to places like Afghanistan.

The vast majority of respondents were aware Canada is part of a multinational force, but 52 per cent said that didn't affect their opinion. Another 38 per cent said that fact gave them a more positive view of the mission.

Craig Oliver, CTV's chief political correspondent, said while Canadians might not fully understand the mission in Afghanistan, "they do understand honourable commitment -- to NATO, to the United Nations -- and what it would mean to abandon those. I think what we're seeing here is an element of rally-round-the-flag."

Both the Bloc and the Liberals have said they won't try to pull Canada out of Afghanistan, "however, we're wearied by the losses. They hurt, he said.

MacKay, Harper say Canada's staying

Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said earlier Monday that Canadian soldiers will stay in Afghanistan until an extensive list of conditions are met.

The military won't leave until Afghanistan's borders are secure, its infrastructure rebuilt, refugees return home and democratic institutions are in place, MacKay told reporters in Halifax.

"We want to leave Afghanistan when those things are achieved in a meaningful way," MacKay told a news conference.
 
"I believe, in spite of some casualties and some very high costs ... these are values and principles worth fighting for."

Canada has now lost 36 soldiers and one diplomat in Afghanistan.

Harper said later on Mike Duffy Live that there is no reason to debate or review the mission.

He dismissed criticism of the mission by other parties as political posturing.

"The fact of the matter is no responsible party would tell the Afghan government, the entire international community and our own armed forces that we're pulling out," Harper said.

"Not a single one of them would do that if they had the responsibility of office."

The NDP is the only party that has definitively called for the majority of troops to be pulled out.

While the mission is a tough one, "it puts Canada in a position of leadership, the kind of leadership it hasn't been in at the United Nations for a long, long time," he said.

The exit strategy "is success. There will be no other conditions under which this government leaves Afghanistan," Harper said, adding success is a stable, democratic Afghanistan.

However, different ways to achieve that may be considered when the current mission technically ends in 2009, he said.