OTTAWA—Canada’s Afghanistan mission has been a failure and the new training role will do little more than breed a new generation of Taliban fighters, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.

Speaking to a university crowd, Layton gave a scathing assessment of Canada’s time in Afghanistan, charging that the lack of progress has made it imperative that Ottawa take a new approach, one that includes negotiations with so-called moderate insurgents.

Layton repeated his party’s demand to bring the 2,500 troops now serving in Afghanistan home and for Canada to push diplomacy and development to bring peace to the troubled nation.

“With our experience in resolving conflicts, there’s a host of diplomatic roles we could play,” he said.

Layton accused Harper of breaking the spirit of the parliamentary motion that called for the withdrawal of troops from a combat role this summer.

And he accused the Liberals of moving in lockstep with the Conservatives by backing the proposal for a new role without having the issue first debated in Parliament.

“It’s anti-democratic. It’s wrong,” Layton said during a speech Friday at the University of Ottawa.

“From the day Stephen Harper took office, he’s been talking about training and end-dates but he’s been pushing a military mission with no end in sight.”

Harper’s office took issue with Layton’s grim review, saying that Canadian soldiers have made important strides to stabilize and secure southern Afghanistan, once the hotbed of the Taliban insurgency.

“I think his characterization of the mission is a bit insulting to the work that our Canadian forces have done. There has been some significant progress,” said Sara MacIntyre, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister.

She cited “milestones” such as the fact that six million children are now in school, more than 2,500 community schools have been built and 1,400 health-care workers have been trained.

MacIntyre said the Conservatives are abiding by the parliamentary motion to end the combat role this summer, saying the new three-year training mission will be done in “classrooms,” not in the field.

“Our forces will then move into a training role to ensure the Afghan security forces have the capacity to ensure the progress that our troops have made and NATO allied troops have made can be maintained,” she said.

But Layton warned that Ottawa’s plan to replace its current contingent with up to 1,000 soldiers to act as trainers could wind up schooling yet more enemy fighters.

Among those being trained are Taliban fighters keen to use their newfound skills against the very NATO forces providing the training, Layton charged.

“Every year, one in five soldiers walks out of the Afghan National Army for good. How many of these become Taliban fighters, taking their training and their weapons with them?” Layton said.

“Imagine. You think you’re training government officers but you’re really training insurgents as well,” he said.

The NDP leader said he intends to make Canada’s Afghan mission an election issue and is urging Canadians to speak out in opposition.

“If we’re not allowed to debate this properly in Parliament, let’s at least debate it across the country,” Layton said.

“We won’t let our prime minister ignore us. We won’t let him commit Canada to war without end.”