A pair of planned visits to the U.S. by Ontario’s premier during an election period has his political rivals crying foul and accusing him of violating a key election convention in Canada.

As the current chair of the Council of the Federation – a body comprised of all 13 provincial and territorial premiers in Canada – Ford has been leading the premiers’ response to threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.

That trip is scheduled for Feb. 12. Ford is also set to visit Washington a second time Feb. 20-22, along with several other premiers, during the annual meeting of the National Governors Association.

“The basic premise (of the caretaker convention), I think, is an important one, and it basically says once an election is called, the existing incumbent government should be as hands-off of using its legislative and executive powers as possible in order to create an equal, level competitive election field for itself and for other political parties,” Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University, told CP24.com.

“The convention is, in other words, the understanding of custom and tradition and required comportment. That’s what convention comes down to: How are you expected to behave within a certain context?”