As MPs returned to the House after the summer recess Monday, the focus was firmly back on a couple of old topics: Canada's increasingly bloody mission in Afghanistan and calls for tighter domestic gun control.

Instead of focusing on his agenda of "Getting things done for families and taxpayers", Harper again found himself defending the mission in Afghanistan, where four Canadian soldiers were killed Monday, and reiterating his intention to scrap the long-gun registry despite last week's shooting rampage at a Montreal college.

Afghanistan is a problem that keeps getting larger. Monday's suicide bomb attack on Canadian troops as they handed out candy to village children brought the number of military deaths to 36 and came on the same day as a report claimed statistics show a Canadian soldier in Khandahar is almost six times more likely to die in combat than a U.S. soldier serving in Iraq.

At the weekend, Harper announced he was sending 450 more soldiers plus a squadron of tanks to help combat the Taliban insurgency, which is growing despite major losses in battles with the 28,000 troops from the international force charged with establishing security and aiding rebuilding efforts. Indeed, fierce resistance has prompted NATO generals to request another 2,500 international troops be sent to the region.

While Harper will rightly argue Canada must stay the course to prevent Afghanistan slipping back into the hands of terrorists, the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois are exploiting public unease over Canada's role.

Likewise, Harper faces political and public pressure over gun control. While he's right that the long-gun registry didn't prevent the Dawson College tragedy, voters in Montreal and Toronto are in the mood for more gun control, not less.

These two issues threaten to hijack an already contentious session that includes the same-sex marriage vote, solving the fiscal imbalance and a post-Kyoto environment plan, providing a big test of Harper's leadership.

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