Canada supports royal succession rule change

Canada supports updating royal succession rules so that a daughter of Prince William can take the throne one day, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.

"Prime Minister Harper has informed Prime Minister Cameron that we are supportive of these reasonable modernizations but don't believe there should be extensive Parliamentary time spent debating them when the government is focused on creating jobs and growth in the economy," Andrew MacDougall said in a statement to CBC News.

Under the 300-year-old rules for royal succession, a woman heir can take the throne only if she doesn't have younger brothers. For example, if Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, were to have a daughter, followed by a son, the younger brother would succeed William as king.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has sent a letter to his counterparts proposing to change British law so that a male heir no longer takes precedence over a female heir.

Cameron sent the letter to the other Commonwealth leaders last month, according to a report in The Guardian.

In his letter, sent last month, Cameron wrote, "We espouse gender equality in all other aspects of life and it is an anomaly that in the rules relating to the highest public office we continue to enshrine male superiority."

It's expected the issue will be discussed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Oct. 28-30 in Perth, Australia.

Harper had been asked about the issue in April in the lead-up to the royal wedding, and said it was not the time for such a debate.

"The successor to the throne is a man," Harper said. "The next successor to the throne is a man. I don't think Canadians want to open a debate on the monarchy or constitutional matters at this time.

"That's our position, and I just don't see that as a priority for Canadians right now at all."