80K Canadians sign petition telling Prince Harry, Meghan Markle to pay for their security

Welcome to Canada, eh.

More than 80,000 people in the Great White North have signed an online petition demanding that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pay for their security detail while they’re in town.

The petition, from the fiscally conservative Canadian Taxpayer Federation, racked up the signatures over six days from residents who refuse to use taxpayer money toward the estimated millions of dollars needed annually to safeguard the Sussexes.

Prince Harry and Meghan are on Vancouver Island preparing to begin a new life with their 8-month-old son, Archie, after stepping back from the British royal family.

“Canadians are pleased to welcome the Duke and Duchess to Canada, but have made it crystal clear that taxpayers should not be forced to support them while they are living here,” said Aaron Wudrick, the federation’s federal director. “All Canadians wish them well as they realize their ambition of financial independence.”

Wudrick’s group delivered the signatures to the prime minister’s office Tuesday.

Details are still unclear on security when Harry and Meghan formally leave the monarchy this spring. Costs to protect the family could top $10 million annually, the Globe and Mail reported.

Bruce Hallsor, of the Monarchist League of Canada, told the Vancouver Sun there doesn’t seem to be “any expectation” that the family is going to “receive any money from the Canadian taxpayer.”

Hallsor told the paper Harry could “still be a target for the Taliban,” since he did complete two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the British army.

The next chapter of Harry and Meghan’s life has not exactly started smoothly. The Sun reported that on their first day in Vancouver, the family threatened to sue prying paparazzi outside their home.