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A Christian worship group is suing Quebec City for abruptly terminating its contract and canceling controversial American musician Sean Feucht’s concert last summer.
Feucht was scheduled to participate in a free event in July at ExpoCité, a site owned and managed by the city.
But the day before his scheduled appearanceQuebec City canceled the contract, following the lead of several other Canadian cities that canceled events organized for Feucht’s “Revive in 25” tour, after the singer faced backlash for his controversial views.
Feucht has spoken out against the 2SLGBTQ+ community, abortion rights, and critical race theory on her website. In 2020, Feucht ran unsuccessfully for the United States Congress as a Republican and has since been affiliated with the MAGA political movement.
Halifax was the first Canadian city to force Feucht’s performance to change location after Parks Canada revoked the organizer’s permit. Other cities, including Quebec City, followed suit.
But in a lawsuit filed Nov. 14, Burn 24/7 Canada Worship Ministries (the organizer of the Canadian events and the Canadian branch of Burn 24/7, founded by Feucht in the United States) claims that Quebec City violated “constitutional and quasi-constitutional guarantees” without reasonable justification, including freedom of religion, expression, opinion and peaceful assembly.
The organization demands the return of $2,609.93 – the cost of renting the space at ExpoCité – as well as $5,000 for what it describes as unconstitutional and unjustified violations of rights.
It also seeks a judicial declaration of unjustified violations of rights.
City found ‘vague clause’ to cancel event, lawyer says
The lawsuit claims that the city sent a letter to Feucht on July 23 after announcing in the media the cancellation of the event, stating that the presence of an “artist who generates significant controversy has consequences for the reputation of ExpoCité.”
The same day, the city issued a statement stating that the presence of a “controversial artist was not mentioned in the contract between ExpoCité and the promoter of the concert scheduled to take place at its site.”
It is true the presence of Feucht It wasn’t mentioned, but it wasn’t asked, either, says Olivier Séguin, the lawyer representing Burn 24/7 Canada Worship Ministries.
“The city didn’t ask to mention who was going to perform. So nothing was hidden,” he told CBC on Monday. “There was no attempt to conceal the presence of Feucht“.
This is the first lawsuit filed following what happened last summer with the tour, Séguin says. He said there could be more.
While other cities cited safety considerations for the cancellation, Quebec City found a “vague clause” to cancel the event, Séguin said.
The clause, the lawsuit claims, describes ExpoCité’s right to take such steps “as it deems appropriate” to end any behavior or activity that, in its opinion, may adversely affect its interests or reputation.
“The reasons given by the city are so far-fetched and so far from the principle of legality (rule of law) that they border on the irrational,” the lawsuit reads.
Séguin says public spaces “cannot discriminate based on political opinion and religion.”
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand’s office said it will not comment on the case as it is before the courts. A Quebec City spokesperson said he could not find out whether the city had received the lawsuit.
“If we did, we won’t comment on it,” François Moisan told CBC.
