Tory MP Urges Feds to Take Note After US Christian Musician Says White House Watching Canadian Show Cancellations

A Conservative MP is urging Ottawa to pay attention after U.S. Christian musician Sean Feucht said on social media that the White House is “watching what is unfolding” regarding the recent cancellations of his shows in Canada.

“Seems like a situation Canada’s federal government might want to have a look at given that <checks notes> they’re in the middle of a trade war,” Michelle Rempel Garner said on X on July 26.

Rempel Garner’s comment came shortly after Feucht, who describes himself as a musician, missionary, and author, posted on the same platform that the U.S. government is monitoring the cancellation of his “Let Us Worship” shows at several Canadian venues by municipal and federal officials over the past week.

“I’ve been in touch with senior White House officials and they are watching what is unfolding with blatant Christian persecution in Canada,” he said. “We’re keeping all receipts too.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Prime Minister’s Office and the White House but didn’t immediately hear back.

Feucht was scheduled to perform at York Redoubt National Historic Site—a 1793 British fort in Nova Scotia—on July 23, followed by sites in the cities of Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Moncton, N.B., on July 24. However, his permits for those venues were revoked by Parks Canada and the municipalities, citing safety concerns amid planned protests.

Feucht’s shows in Quebec City on July 25, Vaughan, Ont., on July 26, and Gatineau, Que., on July 27 were likewise cancelled by the respective municipalities. Quebec City called him a “controversial” figure, while the City of Vaughan cited “health and safety” as well as “community standards and well-being” as reasons for the cancellation. Gatineau cited a similar reason, citing “public safety and security for and around the event.” City of Montreal officials also tried to prevent his performance at a downtown church, saying Feucht expresses “hateful” views, but the musician went ahead with the performance anyway. The city has now fined the Montreal church $2,500 for holding the event without a permit.

Feucht previously ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress with the Republican Party and has been outspoken against gender ideology and abortion. The artist is also a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump. In December 2019, about 50 pastors and worship leaders, including Feucht, gathered in the Oval Office to pray for Trump after the president told them he needed more prayer amid the impeachment probe on Capitol Hill during his first term.

The relationship goes both ways. In September 2021, when Feucht organized a prayer event at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Trump joined him in calling Americans to 21 days of prayer in honour of those who died in the terrorist attacks.

Days before the 2024 election, Trump sent a video message to Feucht and the “Let Us Worship” movement, thanking them for “the incredible job” they had done travelling from city to city and praying to protect America’s religious liberty.

The Trump administration has shown willingness in some cases to help allies tangled in domestic issues in other countries. In a case with much higher stakes than Feucht’s, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he had revoked the visas of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his “allies on the court,” and their close relatives for an ongoing “political witch hunt” targeting former conservative Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and “censorship of protected expression in the United States.” 

In a statement posted on X on July 24, Feucht said his tour in Canada was “born as an organic response” to COVID-19 lockdown policies. He said Canada had some of the most oppressive measures in the world. “The pandemic may be over, but the anti-Christian bias remains,” he wrote. He also said he would find other venues to perform at and wouldn’t “cower in the face of religious persecution.”

‘Free Society’

A day before posting his July 24 statement, Feucht secured a new venue for his Nova Scotia concert—a farmer’s field where hundreds of his supporters gathered for the performance, according to his Facebook page.

On July 24, Feucht posted on Facebook that he managed to hold a morning outdoor concert in a new location on Prince Edward Island with the support of a church, followed by a later update saying he had secured another venue in New Brunswick for his show that evening.

Feucht then went ahead with a performance at a downtown Montreal church on July 25, despite the city’s efforts to cancel it. The City of Montreal fined the church $2,500, stating it did not have a permit for the event.

“Borough inspectors have notified the owners that the event cannot proceed,” a spokesperson with the mayor’s office told The Epoch Times in an email ahead of Feucht’s performance. “Violation notices will be issued if the concert continues, and the neighborhood police station has been mobilized to enforce the regulations.”

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis took to social media in response to reports about officials attempting to cancel Feucht’s event at the Montreal church.

“I don’t know anything about this guy, but in a free society religious organizations don’t seek authorization from state authorities to hold events on their premises,” Genuis wrote on X in the evening of July 25.

“The city seems to be saying that it wants to apply a values test to religious communities hosting private events.”

‘Worship’

Feucht said on X on July 26 that the City of Montreal wants to “fine the church for doing what the church does – WORSHIP.”

The event on July 25 also drew protesters, with footage from it showing a smoke bomb being thrown on the stage. Montreal police made one arrest amid the protests outside the church.

In his X post, Feucht said two smoke bombs were thrown at him by protesters that he identified as Antifa.

On his stop just outside Alfred, Ont., on July 26, Feucht said he hadn’t had a “whole lot of problems” with his tour, which started in the United States, until he came to Canada.

He also told The Epoch Times after the concert that even though he supports Trump, that was not the reason he began his Canada tour. His intent was to “preach Jesus,” but the media and government wanted to “use anything that they can to make a controversy,” he said.

The Canadian stops are part of Feucht’s “Revive in 25” tour. He also has performances scheduled in Toronto on July 27 and several cities in Western Canada in August.

Bill Pan, Chandra Philip, and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.