Canadian churches are being fined thousands of dollars and harassed by leftist protesters for hosting performances by Christian singer and conservative activist Sean Feucht, who said he has been labeled an “extremist” for his religious beliefs.
Feucht, a former Republican candidate for a California congressional seat and founder of the “Let Us Worship” movement, has faced a slew of forced cancellations across his Canadian tour this month by city governments, the Vancouver Sun reported.
Six of his concerts in Central and Eastern Canada were cancelled last week, and churches that went against the government to host him anyway are facing fines of $2,500, according to the Canadian Press.
The City of Montreal levied such a fine on the Ministerios Restauración Church, arguing the institution did not have a permit for Feucht’s July 25 worship performance.
“A ticket was issued because the organization violated the regulations by going ahead with the show,” the mayor’s office said in a statement obtained by the Toronto Sun.
Police interrupted the Friday service and anti-Feucht protesters attempted to force the gathering to shut down, according to the church’s legal defense team, The Democracy Fund (TDF).
Footage obtained by Rebel News shows an unidentified protester hurling a smoke bomb at the stage where Feucht was singing:
Réseau évangélique du Québec, an organization that represents around 500 evangelical Protestant churches in the province, told the Canadian Press that the government should not have required a permit to host Feucht, as it was part of a routine religious gathering.
Local municipalities have come up with numerous different reasons for blocking Feucht’s other performances, from the City of Moncton, New Brunswick, declaring his planned event as “non-compliant with the City’s Code of Conduct,” to the City of Vaughan, Ontario, denying a permit “on the basis of health and safety as well as community standards and well-being.”
Quebec City brazenly admitted that Feucht’s “controversial” nature was the reason for canceling a previously approved event at the public ExpoCité grounds, the Montreal Gazette reported.
“The presence of a controversial artist was not mentioned when the contract was signed between ExpoCité and the promoter of the concert planned for the site this Friday,” said François Moisan, Quebec City’s director of public relations. “With the new elements that have been brought to its attention, ExpoCité has decided to cancel the contract and thus the holding of the event on its site.”
Feucht’s “controversial” views appear to be standard conservative beliefs, as he is known for leading protests against Disney’s transgender agenda and coronavirus mandates banning in-person worship, Breitbart News reported.
The Rolling Stone has described Feucht as a “MAGA preacher” and a “far-right Jesus rocker who made a name for himself protesting COVID, praising Trump and sticking it to the libs.”
British Columbia Premier Dave Eby called Feucht’s views “pretty reprehensible” and accused him of “using his music to go after people who are gay”:
Responding to the backlash and cancellations, the singer said the government would have no issue with him “if I had shown up with purple hair and a dress, claiming to be a woman”:
“But to publicly profess deeply held Christian beliefs is to be labeled an extremist—and to have a free worship event classified as a public safety risk,” he wrote on X.
“The Let Us Worship movement was born as an organic response to authoritarian COVID-19 lockdown policies—policies that, in Canada, were among the most oppressive in the world. The pandemic may be over, but the anti-Christian bias remains,” he continued.
Feucht added, “We will not cower in the face of religious persecution—whether in America, Canada, or anywhere else. We will find places to pray. We will find places to praise. And despite the very real risk of arrest, we will stand with our Canadian brothers and sisters to boldly declare: Let Us Worship!”
TDF litigation director, Mark Joseph, said: “Freedom of religion is a fundamental freedom under s.2(a) of the Charter: you do not need permission or a permit from the government to worship at a church in Canada.”
“It is absurd to suggest otherwise, and it risks setting a dangerous precedent that will extend to all religions,” he argued. “TDF and its lawyers intend to fight this matter and are eager to respond to this obvious Charter infringement in court.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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