Alberta reviewing controversial U.S. musician's application to play at legislature grounds
Alberta Infrastructure said last month Feucht has submitted an incomplete application that has now been completed
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The Alberta government says it is reviewing a permit application by U.S.-based Christian musician Sean Feucht to play at the legislature grounds in Edmonton later this month.
Feucht, 41, is a singer, songwriter, and founder of the Let Us Worship organization.
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He has drawn controversy and cancellations during the initial Canadian dates of his tour and is scheduled to play at the bandshell on the Alberta legislature grounds on the evening of Aug. 22.
Last month, Infrastructure told Postmedia that organizers for Feucht’s tour had submitted an incomplete event permit application, but that the department was assisting them in submitting a complete application.
On Tuesday, the department said a completed application had been submitted and is currently under review.
He began his Canadian tour on the east coast but was forced to find alternate venues for performances in Charlottetown, Fredericton, Quebec City, Moncton, Montreal, and Gatineau, Que. after permits were withdrawn due to security concerns or local codes of conduct related to use of public venues.
Feucht has threatened lawsuits in response to the cancellations, arguing his Charter right to practise religion was being infringed on.
Those performances drew protesters angry over what they see as Feucht’s hateful views on the LGBTQ+ community, which he has called “a cult bent on perverting and destroying the innocence of every child they can,” as well as on abortion laws, which he said “feverishly promote the slaughter of the unborn and the newborn.”
Feuch has used members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group as his security detail and has referred to the Black Lives Matter movement as “shady” and a “fraud.”
He has also shared his affinity for U.S. President Donald Trump and ran unsuccessfully in 2020 as a Republican candidate for Congress in California.
Alberta Infrastructure says ongoing security assessments are done for all scheduled events held at the legislature grounds.
A Montreal church that hosted his concert was fined $2,500 after allowing Feucht’s event to proceed without a permit, with the city’s mayor stating, “freedom of expression is one of our fundamental values, but hateful and discriminatory speech is not acceptable.”
Feucht’s tour is slated to resume on Friday in Rochester, N.Y., and is scheduled to return to Canada for five events, starting Aug. 20 in Winnipeg though the city has also denied him a permit citing safety concerns from the un-ticketed event event stating, “it is not operationally feasible” without a better idea of how many will attend.
In a social media post, Feucht indicated he would seek an alternate venue in the Manitoba capital.
His tour stops in Saskatoon and West Kelowna on Aug. 21 and 23 appear at this point to be set to proceed as planned, but his final Canadian stop outside of Vancouver in Abbotsford, B.C. has also had its permit revoked with the city citing the potential of potential for protesters and counter-protesters.
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