Canadian Speaker skips G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit

New Delhi: Amid a diplomatic row, Speaker of the Canadian Senate Raymonde Gagne has decided to skip the Presiding Officers’ Summit of Parliaments of G20 nations that began here Thursday.

Gagne had earlier confirmed her presence at the Parliament-20 meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

“The Canadian Speaker is not attending the Summit. Schedules keep changing,” Parliamentary sources said.

Earlier, Birla had said he would raise “several issues” in his informal talks with the Speaker of the Canadian Senate.

“We invite all members for G20 events, in this case P20. Participation is their decision. It is subject to a number of factors and you should ask them,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters when asked about the Canadian Speaker skipping the P20 Summit chaired by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

India, Canada relations have nosedived after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations last month linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India had dismissed the allegation as “absurd”.

The P20 meeting got underway on Thursday with Parliamentarians of G20 nations participating in the Parliamentary Forum on LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), a movement proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.