Latest news with #ChristianMusician
CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- 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.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How U.S. Christian musician Sean Feucht put freedom of expression to the test in Canada
Had you heard of Sean Feucht before this month? If you hadn't, you likely have now. The U.S.-based Christian musician wasn't exactly a household name or selling out the biggest concert venues in this country, but his recent concert tour in Eastern and Central Canada has put him in the spotlight in the past couple of weeks, as permits for some of his shows have been revoked amid an outcry that his controversial views are being given a platform in public spaces. The 41-year-old preacher and activist has raised the ire of people for his support of U.S. President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement, and over comments he's made about abortion, critical race theory 2SLGBTQ+ rights and gender diversity. His supporters, including Canadian politicians like Conservative MPs Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes) and Andrew Lawton (Elgin—St. Thomas—London South), have decried what they see as an attack on free speech, conservative viewpoints and religion. While some freedom of expression experts do not agree with Feucht's views in any way, they do see the efforts to cancel his concerts — especially those scheduled to be held in public spaces — as problematic and indicative of how censorship is being used as a means of tackling social issues rather than debating them. "Because freedom of expression is so fundamental in a democratic society, we restrict it only in the most extreme cases," said James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. WATCH | Multiple permits for Sean Feucht's concert tour denied or revoked: Safety or censorship? Over the course of the past week, Feucht saw permits revoked for his concerts in Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, N.B., Quebec City, Gatineau, Que., and Vaughan, Ont.— all of which were to be held at public sites. The City of Montreal attempted to halt his Friday night performance at a church, but it went ahead as scheduled. The church, however, is now facing a $2,500 fine for hosting the event without a permit. Feucht is scheduled to tour several cities in Western Canada late next month, including Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Kelowna, B.C., and Abbotsford, B.C. Turk said that public spaces are different than private venues, whose owners can choose who they do and don't host without violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There are "a very limited number of reasons" why municipal, provincial or federal governments could justify cancelling an event like this, he said, and there would need to be "reasonable grounds to believe that the person is going to engage in illegal activity in that space." In most of the cases, officials cited safety and security concerns and not the content of Feucht's shows or his past comments. But Turk said he doesn't believe Feucht's performance would have created "such a threatening situation that local police forces wouldn't be adequate to handle it." "I fear that, as in many cases, the use of security as an excuse is just that — an excuse to otherwise to deny what's a fundamental right of freedom of expression in this country," he said. If there was a situation in which tempers could flare if critics or protesters tried to disrupt one of Feucht's shows, government agencies responsible for pubic spaces have an obligation to provide the resources to ensure safety and order, said Stephen Newman, a professor emeritus in the politics department at York University in Toronto. But in an email to CBC News on Monday, he wrote that acting on "unspecified concerns" and preventing Feucht's concerts from taking place in response to public outcry is akin to what is known as a "heckler's veto" — in which groups or individuals suppress or shut down another's speech by means of disruption, intimidation or even violence. LISTEN | Discussing why Quebec City cancelled Sean Feucht's performance: Capitalizing on controversy Feucht may have fewer gigs on his tour schedule, but he just gained a wealth of free publicity, said Dax D'Orazio, a post-doctoral fellow in the University of Guelph's political science department who researches freedom of expression in Canada. "If you generally disagree with someone, if you think their expression is harmful, you have to think really long and hard about what the best way to counteract that in society is," he said. "Sometimes calling for the cancellation of events Is not always the most strategic way to go about things." D'Orazio said performers like Feucht can earn "symbolic capital in public discourse" if they can claim they're a victim. Matthew Taylor, a senior Christian scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore who has written about Feucht, shared that sentiment. "He's been doing these provocative, in your face, intentionally trying to draw a response from local officials, even trying to get barred or banned, and then he presents that as persecution, that he is the victim of anti-Christian bias," he told CBC News last week. Feucht, for his part, celebrated that he and his followers were triumphant over attempts to scuttle the performances, having rebooked some to other venues or properties. "The plan of the enemy has backfired BIG TIME up here!!" Feucht wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. "Just like the book of Acts, what the activists tried to stop has now gone viral — IT BACKFIRED!! They are having to report on worship and the preaching of the gospel every night! We did not seek this controversy — yet God will use it for His glory!," he said in a separate post that same day, noting it was the third year in a row of bringing his "Let Us Worship" movement to Canada. WATCH | Feucht's show goes on after permit revoked for national historic site near Halifax: 'Price of a democracy' Both Turk and D'Orazio said they see a bad precedent being set by public agencies revoking permits for a divisive figure like Feucht. There could end up being a "tit-for-tat" situation,D'Orazio said, in which people or groups holding opposing views can target one another using Feucht as an example of public agencies shutting down events just because people on one side are rallying against the other. It doesn't matter if people view Feucht as spreading hate, Turk said, because it's unlikely anything he says would rise to the level of being considered hate speech in the eyes of Canada's justice system. Turk said in the case of someone crossing that line, they should indeed be prevented from having a platform. But beyond that, he said, freedom of expression must be protected for everyone equally — regardless of which views we hold. "The price of a democracy is we're always exposed to divergent views, some of which we love, some of which we hate."
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
How U.S. Christian musician Sean Feucht put freedom of expression to the test in Canada
Had you heard of Sean Feucht before this month? If you hadn't, you likely have now. The U.S.-based Christian musician wasn't exactly a household name or selling out the biggest concert venues in this country, but his recent concert tour in Eastern and Central Canada has put him in the spotlight in the past couple of weeks, as permits for some of his shows have been revoked amid an outcry that his controversial views are being given a platform in public spaces. The 41-year-old preacher and activist has raised the ire of people for his support of U.S. President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement, and over comments he's made about abortion, critical race theory 2SLGBTQ+ rights and gender diversity. His supporters, including Canadian politicians like Conservative MPs Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes) and Andrew Lawton (Elgin—St. Thomas—London South), have decried what they see as an attack on free speech, conservative viewpoints and religion. While some freedom of expression experts do not agree with Feucht's views in any way, they do see the efforts to cancel his concerts — especially those scheduled to be held in public spaces — as problematic and indicative of how censorship is being used as a means of tackling social issues rather than debating them. "Because freedom of expression is so fundamental in a democratic society, we restrict it only in the most extreme cases," said James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. MAGA-affiliated musician's Canadian concert permits denied 4 days ago Safety or censorship? Over the course of the past week, Feucht saw permits revoked for his concerts in Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, N.B., Quebec City, Gatineau, Que., and Vaughan, Ont. — all of which were to be held at public sites. The City of Montreal attempted to halt his Friday night performance at a church, but it went ahead as scheduled. The church, however, is now facing a $2,500 fine for hosting the event without a permit. Feucht is scheduled to tour several cities in Western Canada late next month, including Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Kelowna, B.C., and Abbotsford, B.C. Turk said that public spaces are different than private venues, whose owners can choose who they do and don't host without violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There are "a very limited number of reasons" why municipal, provincial or federal governments could justify cancelling an event like this, he said, and there would need to be "reasonable grounds to believe that the person is going to engage in illegal activity in that space." In most of the cases, officials cited safety and security concerns and not the content of Feucht's shows or his past comments. But Turk said he doesn't believe Feucht's performance would have created "such a threatening situation that local police forces wouldn't be adequate to handle it." "I fear that, as in many cases, the use of security as an excuse is just that — an excuse to otherwise to deny what's a fundamental right of freedom of expression in this country," he said. If there was a situation in which tempers could flare if critics or protesters tried to disrupt one of Feucht's shows, government agencies responsible for pubic spaces have an obligation to provide the resources to ensure safety and order, said Stephen Newman, a professor emeritus in the politics department at York University in Toronto. But in an email to CBC News on Monday, he wrote that acting on "unspecified concerns" and preventing Feucht's concerts from taking place in response to public outcry is akin to what is known as a "heckler's veto" — in which groups or individuals suppress or shut down another's speech by means of disruption, intimidation or even violence. Capitalizing on controversy Feucht may have fewer gigs on his tour schedule, but he just gained a wealth of free publicity, said Dax D'Orazio, a post-doctoral fellow in the University of Guelph's political science department who researches freedom of expression in Canada. "If you generally disagree with someone, if you think their expression is harmful, you have to think really long and hard about what the best way to counteract that in society is," he said. "Sometimes calling for the cancellation of events Is not always the most strategic way to go about things." D'Orazio said performers like Feucht can earn "symbolic capital in public discourse" if they can claim they're a victim. Matthew Taylor, a senior Christian scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore who has written about Feucht, shared that sentiment. "He's been doing these provocative, in your face, intentionally trying to draw a response from local officials, even trying to get barred or banned, and then he presents that as persecution, that he is the victim of anti-Christian bias," he told CBC News last week. Feucht, for his part, celebrated that he and his followers were triumphant over attempts to scuttle the performances, having rebooked some to other venues or properties. "The plan of the enemy has backfired BIG TIME up here!!" Feucht wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. "Just like the book of Acts, what the activists tried to stop has now gone viral — IT BACKFIRED!! They are having to report on worship and the preaching of the gospel every night! We did not seek this controversy — yet God will use it for His glory!," he said in a separate post that same day, noting it was the third year in a row of bringing his "Let Us Worship" movement to Canada. WATCH | Feucht's show goes on after permit revoked for national historic site near Halifax: Permit revoked for MAGA musician's concert — but show will go on 5 days ago 'Price of a democracy' Both Turk and D'Orazio said they see a bad precedent being set by public agencies revoking permits for a divisive figure like Feucht. There could end up being a "tit-for-tat" situation,D'Orazio said, in which people or groups holding opposing views can target one another using Feucht as an example of public agencies shutting down events just because people on one side are rallying against the other. It doesn't matter if people view Feucht as spreading hate, Turk said, because it's unlikely anything he says would rise to the level of being considered hate speech in the eyes of Canada's justice system. Turk said in the case of someone crossing that line, they should indeed be prevented from having a platform. But beyond that, he said, freedom of expression must be protected for everyone equally — regardless of which views we hold.
CBC
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
MAGA-affiliated musician waiting on permit for Winnipeg show
Sean Feucht, a Christian musician and vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, is planning a Canadian stop in Winnipeg on Aug. 20, but there are growing calls for the city to follow the lead of other Canadian centres and deny a permit for his use of public space for the event.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
OPP aware of planned concert by controversial U.S. singer east of Ottawa
Christian musician Sean Feucht of California sings during a rally at the National Mall in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say it is aware of a planned concert this afternoon by U.S.-based Christian musician Sean Feucht in eastern Ontario. A post by the singer on X says a free event is planned in an open field in the Township of Alfred and Plantagenet just off Highway 17. Feucht had been scheduled to play in Gatineau on Saturday but had his permit pulled by the National Capital Commission (NCC), who cited 'public safety and security' as the reason for the cancellation. OPP Const. Brianna Babin tells CTV News Ottawa that officers are patrolling the event and that a stage has been set up in the area. Police are in contact with the owners of Cedar Shade Campground located next to the concert site. The township is also aware of the planned event, she says. Babin says the event is scheduled to go forward and it remains unclear how many people will attend. The concert comes a day after Feucht held a concert at a downtown Montreal church, despite having his permits revoked by the city. The City of Montreal says it will be issuing the church a fine. At least six other dates of Feucht's Canadian tour have been cancelled, including in Quebec City, Charlottetown, Halifax, Moncton and Vaughan. Feucht describes himself as a musician, missionary, author, and activist. He has spoken out against 'gender ideology,' abortion, and the LGBTQ+ community, and his religious and political views have grabbed the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. The Atlantic magazine, based in Washington, D.C., recently described Feucht as a Christian nationalist who has become a 'MAGA superstar.' In a statement to CTV News Ottawa Thursday, Feucht said he is protesting policies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he claimed were biased against Christians. Feucht says on X that he will be playing in Toronto on Sunday. With files from CTV News Montreal
