The Canadian government has yet to decide whether it will assume the security costs associated with the decision by Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to split their time between Canada and England, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday.
“I think that is part of the reflection that ... needs to be had, and there are discussions going on,” Trudeau said in an interview with Canadian television channel Global.
“We’re not entirely sure what the final decisions will be, where the dispositions are and those are decisions for them,” he said.
The couple caught the world off guard last week when they announced their intention to step back from frontline royal duties.
Trudeau said that Canadians are “very supportive” of having the royal couple live in Canada, but there are still “lots of discussions to have.”
“We haven’t spent any time thinking about this issue,” said Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, who was interviewed earlier on Monday about British press reports that Trudeau had assured Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II that Canada would cover security costs for the pair.
“We obviously are always looking to make sure, as a member of the Commonwealth, we play a role,” Morneau said.
British press had reported Canada would contribute US$650,000 per year.
Canadian media have estimated that protecting the couple and their son, Archie, would cost about US$1.3 million per year.
Canadian taxpayers have traditionally contributed toward security costs when members of the British royal family visit the country.
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RELAXED: After talks on Ukraine and trade, the French president met with students while his wife visited pandas, after the pair parted ways with their Chinese counterparts French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his fourth state visit to China yesterday in Chengdu, striking a more relaxed note after tough discussions on Ukraine and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier. Far from the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing where the two leaders held talks, Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), showed Macron and his wife Brigitte around the centuries-old Dujiangyan Dam, a World Heritage Site set against the mountainous landscape of Sichuan Province. Macron was told through an interpreter about the ancient irrigation system, which dates back to the third century
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