B.C. city has ‘increased concerns' on safety for MAGA singer Sean Feucht's show
Sean Feucht is due to play at the Memorial Park Amphitheatre in West Kelowna on Aug. 23, but the city said in a statement that it is reviewing safety and security plans connected to the private booking.
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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A case must be made before refusing a permit
Opinion Will new problems sent our way from the United States never cease? Trumps and tariffs and annexation and borders and fentanyl and complaints about us being nasty for not buying American products or vacationing in the United States is all bad enough. Now, enter Sean Feucht. JOSE LUIS MAGANA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Christian musician Sean Feucht The Christian musician has ruffled feathers across the country because — to quote Feucht himself — 'God called us to come to Canada.' After he requested permission to hold free concerts in a number of public spaces, a series of municipalities have cancelled or refused to issue permits for his performances. Winnipeg has denied him a permit to perform: so has Abbottsford, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Gatineau, Quebec City and Vaughn. West Kelowna is considering its options, and Saskatoon has granted a permit, but has said it is also monitoring security concerns. There are plenty of personal reasons you may not want Feucht to perform in your province: you may find parts of his hardline Christian message to be exclusionary and effectively promote discrimination against members of our community. You may question the ethics of his ministry: after all, in June, six former senior members of his groups issued a report saying he should be removed from 'all positions of leadership and financial stewardship,' and said 'Having witnessed first-hand what we have witnessed about Sean we can no longer encourage any financial contributions to him and his endeavours; we can no longer encourage anyone to work for him, paid or unpaid; and we can no longer encourage anyone to partner with him in any ministry capacity.' But you can't simply go to a laundry list of the most common reasons to refuse to issue a permit for a performance, and select the one most likely to apply. In Winnipeg's case, the reason given was that the chosen public location, Central Park on Ellice Avenue, was too small, at just under two hectares, for the 2,000 people Feucht's organizers are expecting — especially because the concert is free, and total numbers of attendees were hard to predict. As well, there are concerns from the city's emergency services about how they would access the area, given the numbers of pedestrians, concert-goers, vehicle volumes and parking issues related to a concert of that size. That's certainly a more cogent set of reasons than other municipalities have given. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. But perhaps it would have been simpler to request that the organizers find a better site. Holding something like a national Liberal Party Convention would have security and safety concerns — but the City of Winnipeg would not turn that away. Heck, a True North Whiteout street party has security and operational concerns, yet the city and the Winnipeg Police Service manage to address those. A city can certainly refuse to issue a permit for a performance, but that refusal has to be clearly articulated, transparent, and the refusal has to be made for good reasons. (Just to be clear — being hounded by outspoken citizens who don't like a performer's public positions doesn't constitute a good reason.) If those reasons aren't clear and cogent, the risk is that they will be interpreted as a means to quell free speech or the ability of people to assemble. Which, unfortunately, is what's happening now. One thing is for sure: denying Feucht permission to perform pretty much across the country has most likely been a far greater money and attention generator for the performer than just ignoring him — or, at the minimum, suggesting a venue better suited to the size of his proposed event — would ever have been.
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Abbotsford, B.C., denies permit for MAGA singer
The City of Abbotsford in British Columbia's Fraser Valley says it will not issue a permit for a concert by Sean Feucht, becoming the latest Canadian cancellation for the American Christian musician who's outspoken in the Make America Great Again movement. The city said in a statement that the permit for a proposed Aug. 24 show at Mill Lake Park is being denied because of the potential for protesters and counter-protesters. BC Conservative legislator Heather Maahs, who represents Chilliwack North, says on social media platform X that Abbotsford's decision 'undermines the principles of an open, democratic society.' 1:53 Controversial American musician's West Kelowna concert safety plan under review Maahs says the cancellation raises 'serious concerns' about freedom of expression, religion and peaceful assembly. Story continues below advertisement Feucht ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for Congress in 2020 and has been criticized for remarks on the LGBTQ+ community and abortion. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Six of his concerts in Central and Eastern Canada were cancelled last week. '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,' the City of Abbotsford says in the statement. 2:04 Venues pulling permits for controversial MAGA musician set to perform in Edmonton '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.' Feucht criticized the cancellation on X. 'You can no longer call Abbotsford the 'Bible Belt' of B.C. when they cancel outdoor worship to Jesus,' Feucht says in the post. Story continues below advertisement Feucht is also due to play in West Kelowna on Aug. 23, and the city said earlier this week that it was reviewing safety and security plans for the private booking and there were 'increased concerns' about the concert.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Abbotsford, B.C., denies permit for MAGA singer Sean Feucht's show, citing protests
Christian musician Sean Feucht, of California, sings during a rally at the National Mall in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jose Luis Magana ABBOTSFORD — The City of Abbotsford in British Columbia's Fraser Valley says it will not issue a permit for a concert by Sean Feucht, becoming the latest Canadian cancellation for the American Christian musician who's outspoken in the Make America Great Again movement. The city said in a statement that the permit for a proposed Aug. 24 show at Mill Lake Park is being denied because of the potential for protesters and counter-protesters. B.C. Conservative legislator Heather Maahs, who represents Chilliwack North, says on social media platform X that Abbotsford's decision 'undermines the principles of an open, democratic society.' Maahs says the cancellation raises 'serious concerns' about freedom of expression, religion and peaceful assembly. Feucht ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for Congress in 2020 and has been criticized for remarks on the LGBTQ+ community and abortion. Six of his concerts in Central and Eastern Canada were cancelled last week. '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,' the City of Abbotsford says in the statement. '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.' Feucht criticizes the cancellation on X. 'You can no longer call Abbotsford the 'Bible Belt' of B.C. when they cancel outdoor worship to Jesus,' Feucht says in the post. Feucht is also due to play in West Kelowna on Aug. 23, and the city said earlier this week that it was reviewing safety and security plans for the private booking and there were 'increased concerns' about the concert. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2025.
