Defence chief denies tailoring combat definition to suit Liberal narrative

OTTAWA — The country's top military commander is taking pains to explain what is — and what isn't — combat, and denies tailoring his definition to suit the political needs of the Trudeau government.

Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, says he is a combat expert — and that the Liberal government's version of the mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is not a combat mission.

Vance says that so-called "advise-and-assist" missions are new, and that some have trouble understanding the concept — a veiled reference to the NDP's claim that Canada's special forces mission in northern Iraq constitutes combat.