MONTEBELLO, Que.–As hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside summit fences here, Prime Minister Stephen Harper served notice to U.S. President George W. Bush that Canadian troops will be pulled out of Afghanistan in February 2009 unless he's able to get a political "endorsement" to extend their mission.

Harper delivered the message during a 90-minute meeting with the U.S. leader yesterday afternoon at Château Montebello resort.

But even if there is no parliamentary consensus, senior Canadian government officials made it clear that Canada's role in Afghanistan, which includes $1.1 billion in development and humanitarian assistance until 2011, would continue in other ways.

"Seeking the endorsement of Parliament does not necessarily mean we're leaving," a senior Canadian official said after the meeting.

Dan Fisk, a U.S. national security council director, told reporters Bush "now has a better understanding of not only the dynamics here, but the need at some point to go back to Parliament" to decide what the mission will be beyond 2009.

There is little chance that the opposition parties will allow a military mission to continue in Afghanistan beyond February 2009. The NDP wants Canada's 2,500 troops home now and both the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois want the mission ended by 2009.

Sixty-seven Canadian soldiers and one diplomat, Glyn Berry, have been killed in Afghanistan since the mission began.

The meeting happened as riot police used tear gas and pepper spray to hold back protesters trying to disrupt the summit with Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. A line of police jostled with demonstrators who had marched on the front gate of the summit compound shouting taunts. Police clashed again with protesters later in the afternoon, firing off rounds of tear gas.

As he stood waiting for the president's arrival, Harper was asked whether he had seen the protesters.

"I've heard it's nothing. A couple hundred? It's sad," Harper told reporters.

Calderon is to cut short his Canadian visit and return home today because of worries of Hurricane Dean hitting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

He moved up a one-on-one bilateral meeting with Harper to last night, and his schedule today has been cut back.

Yesterday, Ottawa announced $2 million in aid for the countries already hit hard by the hurricane, deployed extra consular staff to the region and said it was working with tour operators and airlines to expedite the evacuation of Canadians.

But the most attention was on Harper's 90-minute talk with the U.S. president. During the meeting, which ran longer than scheduled, Harper raised the contentious issue of border hassles suffered by Canadians travelling to the U.S. for business and leisure.

The topic also came up in Washington yesterday, where U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expressed strong support for using high-technology drivers' licences as alternatives to passports when crossing the Canada-U.S. border, saying Vermont is developing them.

The statement will be welcomed by Canadian officials who have lobbied the U.S. to endorse the licences, saying the plan to require passports is already seriously denting tourism and could damage trade.

Fisk later said Bush reaffirmed to Harper his country's intent to move ahead with passport requirements but "we are committed to implementing it in a reasonable way."

Harper and Bush spoke about "how we can continue to meet very legitimate security concerns on the border but still continue to ensure that legitimate trade and human movement take place," a senior Canadian official said later.

Harper also expressed disappointment that the U.S. pulled out from discussions of pilot projects to help speed truckers across the border. Canada objected to American plans to use widespread fingerprinting, citing Charter of Rights concerns against unreasonable intrusions on privacy rights.

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The U.S. has refused to give ground.

Despite a pledge to work toward an "efficient" border, Canadian officials stressed there were many areas the two leaders continue to disagree on.

"One of the important things about a relationship that's as broad and comprehensive as ours with the United States is that it's unrealistic to think that we're going to agree on absolutely everything," the official said. "But what is really important is that we keep talking about even those things that we don't necessarily agree on."

Among those is the question of Canada's claims of Arctic sovereignty. Harper, officials said, noted his government's recent pledges to invest in new patrol vessels and boost Canada's military presence in the North.

"The president was very supportive of those," the official said.

But Harper's effort to flag comments by former U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci endorsing Canada's claims over the Northwest Passage appeared to be of no avail.

"We look at the Northwest Passage as an international waterway, and want the international transit rights to be respected there," White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe told reporters.

One issue not raised by Harper is the fate of terror suspect Omar Khadr, the young Canadian accused of killing an American soldier who is now stuck in a legal limbo military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"It didn't come up in the discussions," the official said.

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