The official statement read: “Freedom of expression is one of our fundamental values, but hateful and discriminatory speech is not accepted in Montreal and, as in other Canadian cities, the show will not be tolerated..”

This was Mayor Valerie Plante’s position on a worship concert by Christian singer Sean Feucht as she canceled the permit for an open-air show in her city because Feucht has ties to the American MAGA movement and Donald Trump. When the show went on in a church, her officials fined the church $2,000 for holding worship without a permit. So much for freedom of religion.

Plante apparently doesn’t see how she is emulating Donald Trump. She champions free speech, but not for those she disagrees with. That is exactly the playbook of Trump and his MAGA supporters. Not that what exactly was hateful and discriminatory was ever defined. If she did that, people might question why Feucht’s positions on social issues are a problem or threatening to society.

Canada’s national broadcaster calls his positions on gender and abortion “ultra right wing.” But it doesn’t describe them. Just take the CBC’s word for it, they will do your thinking for you.

From what I have read, I’m not a fan of Feucht’s language, but opposition to certain actions described in the Bible as sinful used to be part of Christianity, and were considered mainstream, not right wing.. God good, sin bad. Pretty simple really. The cliche is that you hate the sin as you love the sinner. Maybe Sean Feucht a doesn’t show love.

Certainly our society has rejected what used to be accepted moral values. And there’s a large segment that doesn’t want any discussion as to whether that is a good or a bad thing. Like Mayor Plante, they don’t want to give a platform to those whose opinions they reject. Free speech is only for those who agree with them.

I stumbled across the last 20 minutes of Sean Feucht’s “show” in Toronto as it streamed live last weekend. My description would be a standard Pentecostal worship service, heavy on emotion and prayer. How is this “ultra right wing?” I doubt anyone at the CBC could tell me – and complaints about their bias in the past have shown they don’t care.

What are Feucht’s discriminatory remarks or positions? No-one quotes them. Is that because they are that offensive, or because there is nothing really there?

Of course the protestors have come out in full force. I suspect they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about Sean Feucht and his beliefs. Two weeks ago no-one in Canada had ever heard of him. Now opposing him is the flavor of the month.

Silencing him is seen as a righteous act because he is so hateful. Which explains protestors throwing smoke bombs in a church service. There is a segment of society that believes freedom of speech is only available to those who believe as they do. This is Canada in 2025 – and much of the rest of the world.

Are there valid reasons to be disturbed by Sean Feucht’s message? You be the judge. Certainly there are some allegations in his Wikipedia entry that might make people question their support for him.

I said yesterday I thought from what I had read that opposition to Feucht’s appearances in Canada was based on his politics, not his theology. After his performance in Montreal and Mayor Plante’s reaction, I am beginning to reconsider.

Feucht’s permit for an open-air rally in Montreal (and in other Canadian cities) was canceled. The event was moved to a church. He is a worship leader after all, a church seems like an appropriate place for a worship service, though the drawback to that compared with a park is that there are fewer passers by drawn on by the music.

You would think that holding the concert in a church would solve the problem of innocent ears being offended by the message. The mayor of Montreal was outraged that the event was taking place, so she fined the church.

I’m surprised no-one told her she can’t do that. Churches are allowed to have worship services and the government cannot tell anyone what is and what is not worship. I guess Mayor Plante’s staff, like Donald Trump’s staff, knows better than to tell the MAGA Mayor she is wrong It wouldn’t be good for job security.

Canada in theory has freedom of religion. But the mayor of Montreal wanted Feucht silenced, and since she couldn’t do that, she wants those who allowed him to sing punished.

She would deny that she is like Donald Trump, trying to silence those she doesn’t agree with. After all, she is right, Trump is wrong, so it is completely different.

When politicians fail to understand free speech, freedom of religion and the rights of those who hold differing views, it gets a little scary.

I disagree with Sean Feucht’s politics. I probably would disagree with some of his theology. But what concerns me more is those in authority trying to limit the right of citizens to hear and hold views that are not part of the mainstream.

You would think Canadian politicians would know better. It is scary that they don’t.