British and French ministries aren't commenting on a British newspaper's report that France will send an additional 1,000 troops to Afghanistan.
Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre told CTV's Newsnet that he believes the French troops will go to eastern Afghanistan to help the Americans.
In return, about 1,000 U.S. troops will be sent to Kandahar province to help bolster Canada's 2,500 troops, he predicted on Saturday.
The Times of London story, available Friday night in Canada, cited a British minister as saying that country's defence ministry expects the French to be deployed in eastern Afghanistan. France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to make an announcement during a two-day visit to London late this coming week.
France has an estimated 1,900 soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan, mainly providing security in Kabul.
Sharing the combat burden in Afghanistan has been a major source of controversy within the alliance. Kandahar province is a hotbed of insurgency. Eighty-one Canadian troops have died in Afghanistan since 2002, the majority in Kandahar.
The Manley panel report on Canada's future role in Afghanistan recommended that Canada extend its mission in Afghanistan contingent upon receiving at least 1,000 more combat troops from its NATO allies and some additional equipment like unmanned aerial drones and medium-lift helicopters.
Parliament passed a motion on March 13 -- supported by the Conservatives and Liberals, opposed by the NDP and Bloc Quebecois -- extending the mission to December 2011, contingent upon the extra troops and equipment.
A NATO summit meeting is coming up on April 2-4 in Bucharest, Romania.
Coderre said even before the Manley report came out, the U.S. signalled it would be supplying additional troops to help Canada.
"We've being saying since day one that (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper had a deal with the Americans," he said.
The U.S. sent 3,200 Marines to Kandahar this month for both combat and training, but only for a seven-month deployment.
The 1,000-troop announcement will likely come in Bucharest, Coderre said.
"The reason they gave such low numbers is because they already had a deal," he said.
In any event, an additional 1,000 troops isn't sufficient, he said.
"We need to change the mission from a combat mission to reconstruction and development with some security, of course," Coderre said. "You won't win the Afghan people's hearts with combat; you will win it with reconstruction."
