The prime minister told the national press corps that he has held no talks about the possibility of replacing Canada's Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Rick Hillier.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he has held no talks with senior officials on the fate of Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan.

CTV News reported Tuesday night that the Conservative government won't extend Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier's term when it comes up for renewal in February. (The post is traditionally held for three year terms.)

But in a rare press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Harper called Hillier an "outstanding soldier, who is bringing strong leadership for the Canadian forces."

"There has been no discussion in my office or with me with any senior officials about the possibility of changing the Chief of Defence Staff," said Harper.

He added, "As a matter of fact, I think I just approved a pretty good rating for (him)."

Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief who broke the story, told CTV Newsnet after Harper's press conference that the prime minister left the fate of Hillier's future ambiguous.

"He did offer great support for (Hillier), but he also said no decision had been made on whether his term is going to be extended," said Fife.

"If, in fact, he supported Gen. Hillier, he would have said, 'I'd like him to continue on for some time.' But he didn't say that."

Gen. Hillier Responds

Meanwhile, Gen. Hillier says he's 100 per cent focused on his job, has no plans to leave his post at this time, and that he's received no word the government is planning to end his term.

"Truthfully, I look at it this way," Hillier told reporters after a luncheon in Ottawa on Wednesday.

"I'm the chief of defence staff. We're into a pretty intense period of operations in our country right now, and for me to be focused on anything but looking after Canada's sons and daughters and meeting my responsibility to Canada's moms and dads, would be wrong. So I'm 100 per cent focused on that."

He pointed out that his position is not subject to a three-year term. Instead, he serves at the pleasure of the prime minister for as long as both parties feel it is appropriate.

Traditionally, however, that period is about three years.

"There is no fixed term that goes with that whatsoever, and so at some point in time the prime minister will ask me, or I will indicate to him the time has come, and that time will come sometime in the future," Hillier said.

"I indicated when I took the appointment I would serve at the pleasure of the government, and that continues."

He downplayed the suggestion that leaving his post now would endanger the mission to Afghanistan.

"No, I don't put it in those terms whatsoever," Hillier said.

"Because whether it's Afghanistan, whether it's Afghanistan continuing or whether it's other missions, the Canadian forces will always be involved in missions and I won't be the chief of defence staff always, obviously, so right now I'm focused 100 per cent on my job."

Hillier, appointed by the previous Liberal government in 2005, also denied he is seeking a position in the private sector.

MacKay: 'just speculation'

Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said any talk of the Conservative government replacing Hillier is just speculation.

"There's no basis to this discussion. We're at war with respect to terrorism. Gen. Hillier has shown great leadership and we have tremendous confidence in his ability," MacKay told reporters in Halifax on Wednesday.

"He serves at the pleasure of the prime minister, and the prime minister is pleased with the work he is doing."

However, Hillier may have personally decided not to stay on as the Armed Forces' chief of defence staff when his term expires.

Fife said a source told him late Tuesday that Hillier had decided against an extension to his term.

"We'll see if that in fact is the case. All his office will say is that his reappointment is the prerogative of the prime minister," Fife told Canada AM on Wednesday.

He attended a private farewell ceremony on Tuesday for former defence minister Gordon O'Connor -- a ceremony for which Hillier turned up late.

He said Wednesday that media reports unfairly put a negative spin on the event, when there was no reason to do so.

However Scott Taylor, a military analyst and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine, told Canada AM on Wednesday "there was no love lost between the two."

O'Connor and Hillier had clashing visions of the Armed Forces, he said, noting the Conservatives set Arctic sovereignty as a priority while Hillier pushed the Afghanistan mission.

"We saw very quickly that the Conservatives took Hillier's lead," Taylor said.

He noted that Hillier announced a transformation of the Armed Forces as the Liberals were leaving office but before the Conservatives were sworn in on Feb. 6, 2006.

"A very daring move on the part of a general as a civil servant to restructure his entire (service) ... basically daring the Conservatives to come in and change his transformation," Taylor said.

Hillier is central to completing that transformation, he said.

Fife said Hillier's large personality is part of the problem, according to Conservative insiders.

"They say he went out of his way to undermine O'Connor," he said.

"They also felt he was too large a presence, too powerful a personality for the role of chief of the defence staff. They wanted to bring in somebody who would not be such a strong personality. They want to reassert civilian control over the military."

Possible successors include Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson and Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie although insiders say Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk is likely to get the top job because the prime minister likes him.

Taylor said replacing Hillier won't be a popular move with the troops.

"Gen. Rick Hillier has made it possible for soldiers to be proud again," he said.