MAGA singer: Religious group denounces Montreal for fining church after concert
Ministerios Restauración Church is facing a $2,500 fine for hosting singer Sean Feucht, a rising star in the MAGA political movement tied to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The city says it warned the church it didn't have a permit to host Feucht — who has spoken out against abortion and LGBTQ+ people — but says the show went ahead anyway.
The religious group — Réseau évangélique du Québec — represents roughly 500 evangelical Protestant churches in the province, and says the city tried to shut the show down because it didn't like the singer's religious views.
Spokesperson Jean-Christophe Jasmin says the event should not have required a permit because it was part of a routine religious gathering.
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
Complaints about Feucht have led officials to cancel his concerts scheduled in Eastern Canada — decisions that free speech advocates in the country say were violations of the Charter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Saskatoon approved permit for MAGA musician's upcoming concert, city solicitor confirms
A MAGA-affiliated Christian musician received a permit from the City of Saskatoon to perform in a local park, the city solicitor confirmed Wednesday. Sean Feucht, a MAGA-affiliated Christian musician, has faced cancellations from multiple venues across Canada in recent weeks due to his controversial views. Feucht is a right-wing advocate and has spoken out against the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The 41-year-old's website and social media are littered with stances against abortion, critical race theory and the queer community. Communities in Nova Scotia, P.E.I., New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba have already denied or revoked concert permits for the performer's Revive in '25 Tour. Feucht is scheduled to perform in Saskatoon's Diefenbaker Park on Aug. 21. City solicitor Cindy Yelland confirmed during Wednesday's city council meeting that the city approved the concert permit. "There are no public safety concerns that would require the event to be cancelled," Yelland said. "The situation may change as we get closer to the event. To be clear, allowing an event to occur in public space does not mean the city is endorsing any event, or any message of the event organizers." From there, councillors confirmed that any cancellation of the event on the grounds of public safety would be in the hands of the police. Mayor Cynthia Block appeared on CBC's Saskatoon Morning on Wednesday morning, before the council meeting. She acknowledged that the planned concert is sparking tension. "I'm deeply concerned about the safety issues of this artist coming to our city," Block said. "I've received many phone calls, many emails, and have been in discussions with the chief of police. They are doing their due diligence to make sure that they are following all of the correct legislation to protect freedom of speech, but understanding foundationally that this is a safety issue. It is a physical safety issue, and I am personally worried." WATCH | Mayor of Saskatoon addresses upcoming controversial concert: Mayor of Saskatoon addresses upcoming controversial concert 6 hours ago Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block joined Saskatoon Morning and addressed the planned concert at Diefenbaker Park by controversial American singer Sean Feucht. Block said she asked the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) to work quickly on that due diligence, "because it's making, I think, our whole community feel very tense about what's coming here." After Block's interview, the SPS provided CBC with a statement.
Toronto Sun
3 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Activist judge says bike lanes are a Charter right
Justice Paul Schabas claims there is a Charter right to bike lanes based entirely off his own political view. Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox A bike lane looking northbound on University Ave. to Queen's Park in Toronto on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun When Pierre Trudeau was sitting down with the premiers to draft the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they weren't talking about the Charter right to bike lanes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account But that didn't stop activist lawyer turned activist judge Paul Schabas from deciding that there is a Charter right to bike lanes. 'Justice' Paul Schabas of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said that the Ford government, which passed legislation to remove certain bike lanes and which won an election on this issue, cannot move forward. Let's just fold tents and let people like 'Justice' Schabas run our lives and give up on elections – it seems to be what he wants. In his decision, Justice Schabas relies heavily on the idea of positive rights, which is the idea that the government must take action to provide you with certain rights. This isn't part of the longstanding Canadian tradition that takes a negative rights view, which means that the government cannot take steps against you such as restricting your freedom of expression, your freedom or religion or assembly and so on. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The idea of positive rights, that the government must take actions on your behalf, is a relatively new idea by comparison and one upheld by the far-left activists that Justice Schabas has long been associated with. He cites myriad of cases, some of which he would disagree with if taken to their logical conclusion, like Chaoulli, but uses them to push his point. He even cites American case law to try and make his ridiculous claim there is a 'positive right' that obliges the government to provide bike lanes. Read More This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Ford government's move to pull bike lanes from certain roads was not a blanket ban on bike lanes. In fact, Ford said that he would prefer bike lanes be put on secondary roads. 'Believe it or not, my brother Rob actually put more bike lanes in than David Miller, but he didn't do it down the middle of University or Bloor or any of those streets,' Ford said about his late brother mayor Rob Ford when announcing his bike lane changes last fall. None of this matters to activist Paul Schabas, a man who should never have been appointed to the bench. Schabas acknowledged that those arguing against the bike lane removal never even raised the constitutional elements, but he made a decision on that front anyway. 'The constitutionality of the current provision was not, technically, challenged in this application, as it was enacted after the case was argued. However, the findings in these Reasons have application to the continuing controversy between the parties and the government's proposed action,' Schabas said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Here again is a judge deciding an issue, a case before them, that doesn't actually deal with the case that is in front of the judge. Justice Schabas is the epitome of judge made law. It should be noted that Justice Schabas was the activist judge who couldn't find the Charter right to freedom of expression when he was ruling in the case of Jordan Peterson. Peterson had challenged the idea that the College of Psychologists of Ontario should be able to discipline him based off of his social media statements. Schabas took a totally hands-off approach to freedom of expression simply because he disagreed with Peterson politically. Now, he takes a hands-on and positive rights view for bike lanes because he politically opposes Doug Ford and supports the idea of bike lanes. Justice Paul Schabas, an activist lawyer appointed to the bench by former justice minister David Lametti under the Justin Trudeau government, is the worst example of judicial activism. We deserve better in Canada. If we don't get better, then expect Conservatives to be as egregious in appointing activist judges as Liberals have been in appointing people like Paul Schabas to the bench. blilley@ MLB Celebrity Wrestling Canada Toronto & GTA
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Senate confirms Trump's pick for counterterrorism agency, a former Green Beret with extremist ties
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, on Wednesday evening as Republicans looked past his connections to right-wing extremists and support for conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Kent won confirmation on a 53-44 party-line vote. He had already been working for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. As the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, he will oversee an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats. In the role, he plans to devote agency resources to targeting Latin American gangs and other criminal groups tied to migration. He is the latest Trump loyalist to win Senate confirmation to the upper echelons of U.S. national security leadership at a time when Trump is stretching his presidential wartime powers to accomplish his goals. 'President Trump is committed to identifying these cartels and these violent gang members and making sure that we locate them and that we get them out of our country,' Kent said at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in April. Kent enters the top role at the counterterrorism center after two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state, as well as a military career that saw him deployed 11 times as a Green Beret, followed by work at the CIA. His first wife, a Navy cryptologist, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 while fighting the Islamic State group in Syria. Yet Democrats strongly opposed his confirmation, pointing to his past ties to far-right figures and conspiracy theories. During his 2022 congressional campaign, Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, for consulting work. He also worked closely with Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer, and attracted support from a variety of far-right figures. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kent also refused to distance himself from a conspiracy theory that federal agents had somehow instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, as well as false claims that Trump won the 2020 election over President Joe Biden. Democrats grilled him on his participation in a group chat on Signal that was used by Trump's national security team to discuss sensitive military plans. They also raised grave concerns over a recent incident where Kent, as Gabbard's chief of staff, told an intelligence analyst to revise an assessment of the relationship between the Venezuelan government and a transnational gang. The revisions supported Trump's assertions that members of the gang could be removed under the Alien Enemies Act — a wartime provision. Democrats said it showed Kent cannot be trusted to handle some of the nation's most important and sensitive intelligence. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said any counterterrorism director 'must be trusted to tell the truth and to uphold the core principles of the intelligence community: Objectivity, nonpartisanship and fidelity to fact.' 'Unfortunately, Mr. Kent has shown time and again that he cannot meet the standard,' Warner added. Still, Republicans have praised his counterterrorism qualifications, pointing to his military and intelligence experience. Sen. Tom Cotton, the GOP chair of the intelligence committee, said in a floor speech that Kent 'has dedicated his career to fighting terrorism and keeping Americans safe.' ___
