Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused on Sunday to resume the constitutional debate on the place of the British monarchy, whose sovereign is automatically the head of state of Canada, writes AFP, taken by Agerpres.

“It’s not a priority for me. I don’t even intend to discuss it,” said the head of the Canadian government in an interview with Radio-Canada in London on the eve of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

“To make such deep changes in a system that is one of the best, most stable in the world, it’s not a good idea for me right now,” Justin Trudeau emphasized, recalling a “difficult and confusing moment.”

A former British colony that became independent in 1867, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with the sovereign of the United Kingdom as head of state. Therefore, Charles III is now officially “King of Canada”.

With the death of Elizabeth II, the debate about the place of the monarchy was renewed. According to an Ipsos poll conducted for Global News, 58% of Canadians want a referendum on the country’s current status.

That’s a five-point increase over the year, according to that poll, released Friday, which also shows just 44 percent of Canadians say they have a favorable opinion of Charles III.

In the federal parliament, Quebec separatists recently called for severing ties with the British crown, while the left-wing opposition NDP, while not making it a priority, wants the abolition of the monarchy.

However, for Justin Trudeau, constitutional monarchy offers “wonderful stability” for our time. “It’s a system that works in an era where we’re seeing our democratic institutions and our democracies around the world crumble a little bit,” said the Canadian prime minister, who spoke with King Charles III on Saturday.

“We survived the constitutional debate. It is difficult to change our system of government at any time,” the Prime Minister of Canada emphasized, alluding, in particular, to the two referendums on the independence of Quebec (1980 and 1995).

Justin Trudeau himself, the son of the Prime Minister of Canada, has met Queen Elizabeth II several times since childhood. After her death, he tearfully admitted that the sovereign “was one of his favorite people in the world” and that her advice “will be greatly missed.”