Chris Selley: Banning MAGA singer Sean Feucht, Canada slips further into Trump-ian incoherence

Sean Fuecht is a much bigger name in Canada today than had governments just let his concerts happen

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By Chris Selley

Published Jul 25, 2025

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Elbows up against free speech! Sean Feucht, a Christian singer, preacher and Donald Trump enthusiast saw all six of his scheduled concerts in Eastern Canada cancelled in recent days. All were scheduled to be held on public sites. Groups of citizens of unknown size demanded the shows be cancelled, and said they would protest if not, which is certainly their right. And as ever, when governments cave to a censorious mob, they sounded ridiculous.

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In Halifax, where he was to perform at a national historic site, Parks Canada cited “evolving safety and security considerations based on confirmation of planned protests (and) input from law enforcement.” Charlottetown seemed to piggyback on that: “Evolving public safety and security concerns.” Moncton, N.B.: “Following a thorough review, the event was found to be non-compliant with the city’s code of conduct in city facilities.” Vaughan, Ont., cited “health and safety as well as community standards and well-being.” Gatineau, Que.: “concerns about public safety and security.” Quebec City: “the presence of a controversial artist was not mentioned when the contract was signed.” (Perhaps they should make people tick yes or no: “Are you controversial?”)

There is plenty that bien-pensant Canadians would object to on Feucht’s record: He was fervently anti-lockdown, he deplores abortion, has said nasty things about drag queens. Rolling Stone reports his security detail had included a notorious member of the Proud Boys. But you will notice that none of the statements from Canadian officials explain what specifically their actual problem is with the guy.

Do they really want us to believe that an anti-MAGA protest in Halifax might turn violent? And even if it did, why is that the performer’s fault, worthy of cancellation?

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Meanwhile, we had the usual chorus of politicians being breathtakingly insincere about free speech.

Halifax Liberal MP Shannon Miedema: “I have the utmost respect for the value of free speech, (but) I do not believe this event aligns with Parks Canada’s core values of respect for people, equity, diversity and inclusion, or integrity.”

To respect free speech rights, you first have to understand them. These two clearly do not.

Interestingly, Charlottetown at first seemed to understand its obligations. Its first reaction was very different: “From a legal standpoint we are limited in restricting access to public spaces,” a statement read. Many constitutional lawyers would agree.

You’ll often hear politicians say that government-owned spaces have a special obligation not to rent venues to people whose views don’t reflect appropriate “values.” “When it comes to public buildings, I believe we should hold ourselves to the highest standard,” then Toronto mayor John Tory averred in 2019, when the Toronto Public Library rented a stage to barely controversial feminist Meghan Murphy.

It’s exactly the opposite. Government-owned venues are subject to the Charter. Privately owned venues, such as those Feucht ended up performing at instead near Halifax, Moncton and Charlottetown, are not. It would certainly be interesting to see someone mount a Charter challenge to these decisions.

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As is often the case with censorship, one of the primary achievements of these cancellations was to give a ton of free publicity to Feucht. He’s not exactly a household name even in the United States. Exactly one of his records has ever charted: at number 37 on Billboard’s Christian albums, in 2016. His constituency is considerably smaller north of the border. I would never even have heard of him had these cities just let the shows go ahead.

Had we denied him entry to Canada, as many were calling for, it would have been an even bigger deal. It’s also one of those things you could imagine Trump taking note of and retaliating — say, by banning godless Canadian bands from crossing the border and performing in the U.S.

And the crazy thing is, many Canadians would say, “good, they shouldn’t be playing in the U.S. anyway.” Canadian singer-songwriter Matthew Good received lavish praise for cancelling his stateside shows recently … though he had only booked them in January, when Trump was already president.

It’s a great pity that incoherence, on everything from free trade to live music, is the primary characteristic of Canada’s response to the second Trump era. And there is no sign of it letting up.

National Post
cselley@postmedia.com