A recent poll showed that a majority of Canadians would not be averse to seeking Prince Harry become the next Governor-General of Canada. While that is rather unlikely- rules say the G-G must be a Canadian citizen- if taken at face value it appears to show a favourable view of the Prince and his wife, actress Meghan Markle.
However, and there is a ‘but’, while there is a segment of the Canadian population that are dedicated monarchists, (there is even a Monarchist League of Canada) there are also those who, while eager to see the royals when they visit Canada, are at the same time not very happy about the fact that taxpayers have to foot the rather substantial bill for security and other issues involved with royal visits to this country.
Most Canadians don’t want to pay for cost of having royals live here. Angus Reid Inst
Another large segment appears to be completely ambivalent towards the House of Windsor and Canada’s connection to the monarchy.
More Canadians view Prince Harry and wife as ‘celebrities’ rather than working ‘Royals’ (Toby Melville-Reuters)
A new poll by the Angus Reid Institute finds that some 66 per cent of Canadians feel that nowadays the Royal family is either less relevant or not relevant at all.
As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they will live part time in Canada, many are concerned about costs.
When Canadians were asked if they were pleased or not with the news of a Canadian residence, 50 per cent said they didn’t care either way, 39 per cent were pleased or very pleased, 11 per cent were upset or very upset.
Angus Reid Inst.
When asked, a clear majority say taxpayers should not have to pay any of the costs associated with the family’s residence here (73%), while less than one in five said Canadians could pay some of the costs (19%) and three per cent said taxpayers should pay whatever costs arise.
In addition, a majority of respondents (66%) feels the monarchy is either becoming less relevant or no longer relevant.
Angus Reid Inst.
As for Queen Elizabeth herself, most Canadians (67%) view her favourably with the highest rating in Atlantic Canada, and the lowest in Quebec.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is still viewed quite favourably in Canada, but many here would question continuing with the monarchy as head of state should she retire or die. (Kirsty Wigglesworth-Associated Press)
Prince Charles however has a much lower rating at only 39 per cent.
While support for the Queen personally is still fairly strong, Canadians seem less willing to continue as a constitutional monarchy.
In 2016 Angus Reid found a slim majority agreeing the current status should continue (41% to 38% against). When asked the same question today, only 39 per cent would continue as a constitutional monarchy, while 45 per cent think Canada should have a different system with either the Prime Minister of Governor-General as head of state, but with no ties to the monarchy
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