The Topline
- Abbotsford, B.C, is the latest Canadian city to revoke a permit for a performance by MAGA‑aligned Christian singer Sean Feucht
- Local officials in six municipalities across the country have cited public safety concerns and significant community backlash over Feucht’s controversial views for the cancellations
It's a threat to public safety
Christian singer and MAGA influencer Sean Feucht has faced public opposition and cancellations for his national Revive in 25 Canada tour.
Officials in Abbotsford, Vaughan, Ont. Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau, Halifax, Charlottetown, P.E.I, Moncton, N.B. have either revoked performances for the concerts or cancelled appearances outright, over concerns that protests and counter-protests would lead to civil unrest.
Parks Canada was the first to cancel a planned concert at Halifax’s York Redoubt National Historic Site, citing safety concerns in the wake of very vocal public opposition to Feucht’s performance.
Officials in Abbotsford, meanwhile, warned about potential risks to public order, stating that no feasible mitigation plan existed.
Feucht found alternative venues for each his concerts, and Ministerios Restauración Church was later fined $2,500 by the City of Montreal after hosting Feucht without a valid permit. Police had also reported smoke bombs detonated during the event, prompting one arrest for obstruction.
DIVE DEEPER
Feucht rose to prominence after an unsuccessful bid for congress in the U.S. and for holding large, unmasked worship sessions across the country at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s known for his anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion rhetoric, and the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has taken note of his political and religious messaging.
Municipal leaders across the country have stated that while freedom of expression is a foundational Canadian value, it has limits when speech is seen as discriminatory or threatens public inclusion or safety.
A spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said in a statement , “This show runs counter to the values of inclusion, solidarity, and respect that are championed in Montreal. Freedom of expression is one of our fundamental values, but hateful and discriminatory speech is not acceptable in Montreal.”
In Abbotsford, the decision to not issue a permit for the planned August 24 show at Mill Lake Park was based on public safety considerations tied to anticipated protests.
In an official statement, the city said: “Given the recent publicity surrounding the proposed event, the city believes that the event could potentially attract significant numbers of protesters and counter-protesters in addition to attendees.
"These factors, among others, make the community safety considerations of the proposed event extremely difficult to mitigate, and the city found that no permit conditions could adequately address the potential risks to the public.”
OTHER VOICES
Jackie Smith of Transition Québec told the CBC , “The city should not make its spaces available to propaganda groups that insult our communities and seek to divide us on the basis of our identities[…] We don’t want this hatred in our neighbourhoods.”
Wilbur Turner, the Kelowna based president of Advocacy Canada, told the Tyee , “We have to say it's not OK. There are many people that have the privilege of this kind of speech not impacting them, but we have to speak up for the people who don't have that privilege” — indicating that allowing Feucht’s rhetoric in public spaces could harm marginalized groups.
In her column for Religion Dispatches, Kate Burns wrote , “While media have largely focused on the cancelled concerts and free speech debates, most have missed the bigger picture as to how Feucht’s Canadian tour ‘disasters’ fit neatly into his—and the broader Christian Right’s—well-worn playbook.
"Whether planned or not, legitimate community pushback against Feucht’s documented history of anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry and Christian nationalist messaging was transformed into a lucrative and aggrandizing persecution narrative that positions him as Christianity’s embattled champion against the secular world.”
David D’Andre, in a Facebook pos t critical of Feucht’s Edmonton concert (planned to be held on Legislature Grounds), wrote, “Given that Feucht treats his concerts, in his words, as “worship events,” it would be a serious violation of the separation of Church and State. Public grounds should not be used for religious propaganda or proselytizing. [...] [
"T]his is not a question of the hindrance of free speech or censorship, but about the correct use of public venues. Feucht is perfectly free to give a concert at one of the many large churches in the area, where such a thing is perfectly appropriate, or wherever else he would like to rent for the event.”
A threat to free speech
Feucht has framed the cancellations as targeted religious persecution and censorship, calling the events part of a broader ideological push against public Christian worship in Canada.
After the first wave of East Coast cancellations, Feucht took to Facebook and Instagram , writing, "We've been canceled, banned, protested and smoke-bombed in Canada, but the MOVE OF GOD ONLY GROWS STRONGER!”
He also wrote on X : “Here’s the hard truth: If I had shown up with purple hair and a dress, claiming to be a woman, the government wouldn’t have said a word. But to publicly profess deeply held Christian beliefs is to be labeled an extremist, and to have a free worship event classified as a public safety risk.
Feucht’s concerts in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and West Kelowna, B.C. are currently scheduled as planned.
DEEPER DIVE
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has launched a legal challenge titled R v. City of Montreal et al., working with Sean Feucht and event organizers to hold municipal and federal governments accountable for cancelling or revoking permits for his performances.
The centre argues that the cancellations violate rights to peaceful assembly and religious expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In their view, if public spaces are open for permit-based events, officials cannot deny access based solely on the speaker’s political or religious views.
The case could test Canada’s balance between free expression and public order, especially where controversial speech intersects with religion and public venues. It’s also designed to test how local governments regulate gathering permits, especially when distinguishing between regulated events and routine worship services.
In a statement on its website, the Canadian Constitution Foundation wrote that it’s "disturbed" by the cancellations. It also cited the 2021 decision in Ward v Quebec, in which the Supreme Court of Canada stated that restrictions on speech are allowed only when “there are serious reasons to fear harm that is sufficiently specific and cannot be prevented by the discernment and critical judgment of the audience.”
OTHER VOICES
According to the Hill Times , Conservative MP Roma Baber posted a three-minute social media video stating, “Charter rights are under assault,” and questioning whether Canada was engaging in censorship by cancelling Feucht’s events
B.C. Conservative MLA Heather Maahs, representing Chilliwack North, wrote on X that the Abbotsford cancellation “undermines the principles of an open, democratic society… raises serious concerns about freedom of expression, religion and peaceful assembly.”
James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, told the Canadian Press , “I’m totally opposed to his position on most political things [...] But in a democracy, we deal with difference through discourse, through argument, through boycotting, through ignoring, through protest. We don't deal with it through silencing people and censoring them.”
On July 28, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani tabled a notice of motion before the Parliamentary Heritage Committee, highlighting the broader risk these cancellations pose to religious freedom. In the motion, Jivani stated that protecting the freedom to worship “is a fundamental part of Canadian heritage.” He also noted that increased violence toward religious communities of all denominations requires “additional legal protections and security measures” in Canada.
