Canada's top soldier says the military needs more recruits and public funds in order to effectively carry out missions such as the current one in Afghanistan.

Speaking a day after a House of Commons debate over the role of 2,300 Canadian Forces members in Afghanistan, Hillier says this country's military aircraft, ships and land vehicles have all "deteriorated" over the years -- and that current funding to the military remains below 1991 levels.

"I'm not ashamed to say we need money," Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff, said Tuesday afternoon in a speech to a Toronto business audience.

"If we want a helicopter, we don't need it 15 years from now in Afghanistan.... We need that helicopter in the very near future and actually, by September would be quite good."

Despite voices denouncing the Commons debate as being bad for troop morale, Hillier supported it, saying it's the kind of democratic process he would like to see in place in Afghanistan.

"Our soldiers don't mind debates, they don't mind discussions," he said.

"But you know what they tell me when I go to visit them?'Sir, the debate is over here, we're committed, we're on the ground, we're on the job and we're putting ourselves at risk.' And they need the support of Canada to do that.''

Hillier said as chief of defence staff he's non-partisan, but he wasn't shy on Tuesday about expressing his approval of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's actions.

Hillier said Harper showed leadership by visiting troops in Afghanistan last month and by continuing the Canadian Forces deployment launched by the previous Liberal government.

Meanwhile, a small group of about two dozen peace activists waved placards outside Toronto's Royal York Hotel where the general was speaking

"We need to stop this notion that any kind of peace can be brought through gun-barrelled diplomacy," Christine Jones, 38, of Toronto, told The Canadian Press.

James Clark, also of Toronto, said "We want the troops home," adding that it's simply too risky to send Canadian soldiers to such an unstable country.

But Hillier defended the deployment, saying Canada continues to be a target on terrorist hit lists since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. He also said Canadian Forces are helping to stabilize democracy in Afghanistan, as well as rebuilding schools and making communities safer.

"We are in Afghanistan for good Canadian reasons -- in support of our

interests, in protection of our values, and simply because it's right."

Hillier's speech to the Empire Club of Canada comes as a recent opinion poll, conducted by Decima Research, indicates Canadians are divided about Canada's role in the war-torn country.

Since Canadian troops were first deployed to Afghanistan four years ago, 12 Canadians have died in that country. Despite the mounting casualties, Hillier put a call out for more recruits.

"We know we can challenge Canadians and we know that as the message gets out, they'll be coming to us in droves,'' said Hillier. He added that the military surpassed its goal of signing up more than 5,600 new recruits in the past year.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada says the job of rebuilding Afghanistan has only just begun and that it's no time to talk about pulling troops out of his country.

Omar Samad told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday said he was encouraged by the support expressed by all parties during Monday's debate in the House of Commons.

He said any talk of leaving would only play into terrorists' hands, and that there is still much to be done to rebuild the war-torn country.