A Christian worship group is suing Quebec City for abruptly terminating its contract and cancelling the concert of controversial U.S. musician Sean Feucht this past summer.
Feucht was scheduled to play a free event in July at ExpoCité, a site owned and managed by the city.
But the day before his scheduled appearance, Quebec City cancelled the contract — following the example of several other Canadian cities that cancelled events organized for Feucht’s “Revive in 25” tour, after the singer faced backlash for his controversial views.
Feucht has spoken out against the 2SLGBTQ+ community, abortion rights and critical race theory on his website. In 2020, Feucht unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Congress as a Republican and has since been affiliated with the MAGA political movement.
Halifax was the first Canadian city that forced Feucht’s performance to change locations after Parks Canada revoked the organizer’s permit. Other cities, including Quebec City, followed suit.
But in a lawsuit filed Nov. 14, Burn 24/7 Canada Worship Ministries — the organizer of the Canadian events and the Canadian branch of Burn 24/7, which was founded by Feucht in the U.S. — claims Quebec City violated “constitutional and quasi-constitutional guarantees” without reasonable justification, including freedom of religion, expression, opinion and peaceful assembly.
The organization is demanding a refund of $2,609.93 — the cost of the rental space at ExpoCité— as well as $5,000 for what it calls unconstitutional and unjustified infringements of rights.
It’s also seeking a judicial declaration of unjustified infringements of rights.
The lawsuit claims the city sent a letter to Feucht on July 23 after announcing the cancellation of the event in the media, stating that the presence of an “artist who generates significant controversy has consequences for ExpoCité’s reputation.”
The same day, the city issued a statement saying the presence of a “controversial artist was not mentioned in the contract between ExpoCité and the promoter of the concert scheduled to take place on its site.”
It’s true the presence of Feucht was not mentioned, but it was also not asked, says Olivier Séguin, the lawyer representing Burn 24/7 Canada Worship Ministries.
“The city didn’t ask to mention who was going to perform. So nothing was hidden,” he told CBC Monday. “There was no attempt to hide the presence of Feucht.”
This is the first lawsuit filed as a result of what happened this past summer with the tour, says Séguin. He said there might be more.
While other cities cited security considerations for the cancellation, Quebec City found a “vague clause” to cancel the event, Séguin said.
The clause, the lawsuit claims, outlines ExpoCité’s right to take such measures “as it deems appropriate” to put an end to any behavior or activity that, in its opinion, is likely to adversely affect its interests or reputation.
“The reasons given by the city are so far-fetched and so far removed from the principle of legality (rule of law) that they border on the irrational,” reads the lawsuit.
Séguin says public spaces “cannot discriminate based on political opinion and religion.”
The office of Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand said it is not commenting on the case, as it is before the courts. A spokesperson for Quebec City said he was not able to find out if the city had received the lawsuit.
“If we did, we won’t be commenting on it,” said François Moisan to CBC.
