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TORONTO — Finance Minister Joe Oliver says the government is well within its rights to negotiate a massive Pacific Rim trade agreement in the middle of an election campaign.

Oliver is rejecting suggestions that the government’s continued pursuit of the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership is a violation of the so-called “caretaker convention,” which is supposed to limit the government activity during an election period.

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“There is a protocol in place and we of course consult with the Privy Council on these issues,” Oliver said Wednesday during a campaign event in his Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence.

“When there’s a matter of importance or urgency for the government to deal with in the national interest then it’s appropriate for us to do that. And this is certainly one of those cases.”

Notably, Oliver wouldn’t say whether his Conservative party has consulted its Liberal and NDP rivals on the trade talks.