The controversial Christian rocker Sean Feucht, known for its affiliation with the Maga Movement, was carried out in an Etobicoke Church full of hundreds of attendees on Sunday.
Originally, the concert was scheduled to play in the Vaughan Dufferin district park. The city denied the request for program permits with “health and security, as well as the standards and well -being of the community.”
Feucht, who run out of success for the United States Congress as a Republican in 2020, is also a missionary and an author who has spoken against the 2SLGBTQ+community, the rights of abortion and critical theory of the race.
Feucht told the audience on Sunday that he was “disturbed” for the reaction of the municipalities in the first leg of his tour, but that he will continue to exercise his rights and freedoms.
Several municipalities, including Vaughan, Gatineau, which. And Montreal have rejected permits due to public safety concerns.
A spokesman for the Montreal Mayor’s office said the program “goes against the values of inclusion, solidarity and respect.”
“The place where I got the greatest persecution and resistance was in Canada. That is wild. No Irak or Türkiye, but Canada,” Feucht told the audience on Sunday.
He said that the tour has been an issue of trend in social networks, which has brought more awareness to the movement.
“More cameras, more media, everyone talks about adoration in Canada. It is causing a national dialogue,” he said.
Feucht did not respond to the request for comments from CBC Toronto.
The event attendees arrived from the Metropolitan Area of Toronto and to Cambridge, Ontario, and some said they were there to support the cause after listening to the cancellations.
Feucht’s “brand of Christianity” is worrying given how it is being politicized and is exclusive, instead of including all people, said Deana Dudley, a reverend in the Metropolitan Church of the Toronto community (MCC).
The American musician Sean Feucht has had multiple event permits for his Canadian concert tour denied or revoked by Cities and Parks in Canada, since some oppose their affiliation with the political movement of Maga.
Dudley said it was annoying to see Feucht claim “persecution” of Christians for denied permits.
The public places owned by the government do not always allow religious events to be held there and the MCC has also been denied permits for that reason, he said.
“If you want to talk about persecution, you should talk to some of the LGBTQ+ refugees with whom we work, who have had to flee from their countries of origin,” he said.
Dudley said that his interpretation of Christianity believes that God has “unconditional love for all people”, while FEUCHT’s controversial positions make religion feel exclusive to those who agree with those beliefs.
It is important to protect the constitutional rights of freedom of expression and religion of people, regardless of their position or controversial opinions, said Christine Van Geyn, director of Litigation of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
“The government cannot choose, except in very, very high and exceptional cases,” he said.
Instead of closing an event, Van Geyn said that people should commit to him to share their views and, if possible, protest.
When censoring an event, a movement can gain notoriety and even more attention, he warned.
“This artist has become a martyr for a cause,” he said. “That is why we are having this conversation. That is why everyone knows that the name of this artist is due to attempts to silence.”
The city of Toronto said in a written statement that a permit was not necessary for the event on Sunday, since it was carried out in private property.
