Church sues after City of Montreal issues $2,500 fine for hosting ‘MAGA superstar’

Pastor Bernaby Quevedo poses at his church in Montreal, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

MONTREAL — Quebec City is not alone in facing legal action for the way its municipal administration responded to a scheduled concert by Sean Feucht, an American Christian singer known for his ties to U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.

The City of Montreal is also being sued, after it fined a church $2,500 for hosting the singer whose views on “gender ideology,” abortion and the LGBTQ+ community had made him a controversial figure in the country by the time his Canadian tour kicked off this summer.

Last week, the organizer behind Feucht’s tour launched a lawsuit against Quebec City after officials had cancelled a performance by the musician scheduled for July 25 at a downtown venue operated by the city. The tour organizer was left scrambling for other spaces willing to host Feucht, who by then had seen his shows cancelled in Halifax, Moncton and Charlottetown. Feucht’s team then decided to go to Montreal.

Ministerios Restauración, an evangelical church in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, hastily hosted the performance on July 25 — against the wishes of city officials. Pastor Bernaby Quevedo says his church filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against Montreal’s administration in September because he believes the city abused its power.

“We could have paid the fine, but I think it’s better to set a precedent, that the City of Montreal, especially in cases like this, can’t just hand out fines because they disagree with the way a topic gets discussed,” Quevedo told The Canadian Press in an interview. 

The lawsuits in Montreal and Quebec City reflect the debate in Canada triggered by Feucht’s tour — how far should cities go in protecting free speech involving people with views that some find hateful?

Quevedo’s lawsuit calls for judicial review of the city’s decision to issue the fine, and it seeks $10,000 in damages and a declaration from the court that the city violated the church’s Charter rights. Feucht isn’t listed as a plaintiff, but as a third party.

The City of Montreal declined to comment on the lawsuit, and has not yet filed a defence.

Back in late July, spokespeople for the city had justified the fine on the grounds that the church’s building code didn’t permit concerts. They had also mentioned the show ran contrary to the “values of inclusion, solidarity and respect that are championed in Montreal,” where “hateful and discriminatory speech” is not tolerated.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the church’s building code, which lists it as a “place of worship and convent.” Quevedo said when four city inspectors arrived the morning of the show to warn him that his church risked being fined, he tried to explain to them that the show was an expression of worship, and therefore permitted under the building code, but they disagreed.

“I don’t want to hide this from you, but things got a bit heated, but it was mainly because I wanted them to explain to me what was (a place of) worship, and they couldn’t define it,” Quevedo said.

The pastor says he thinks the city’s actions were never about the building code — he says concerts are regularly hosted at churches all over the city — but entirely about who was invited. 

The Christian singer describes himself as a musician, missionary, author and activist. Last year, Feucht referred to Pride Month as a time to discover “which people, businesses, influencers, corporations and ministries have sold their soul to a demonic agenda seeking to destroy our culture and pervert our children.” His religious and political views have grabbed the attention of the Trump administration, with the Atlantic magazine calling Feucht a Christian nationalist and “MAGA superstar.”

Attempts to reach Feucht on Tuesday were unsuccessful. 

Quevedo said anyone is welcome in his church, regardless of their beliefs. As for Feucht, the pastor described him as kind and “open to discussion.”

Olivier Séguin, the lawyer representing the church, said the city’s conduct — its comments about the church in the media, its decision to dispatch four inspectors, the $2,500 fine — amounts to intimidation.

“They just did that to please the public,” he said, adding that the city never raised security or safety concerns to the church ahead of the concert.

The legal challenge is sponsored by the Democracy Fund, a Canadian charity that is also financing the appeal of Tamara Lich, who was convicted of mischief for her role as an organizer of the “Freedom Convoy” that paralyzed downtown Ottawa in early 2022.

Mark Joseph, a lawyer and the charity’s director of litigation, called the conduct of the City of Montreal “particularly egregious,” considering Christian worship “often involves music and singing,” he said.

He said he also fails to see how the church violated its own building code. “It will be up to the city to convince the court that engaging in prayerful singing during worship is not authorized in the City of Montreal … and that any Christians who do so may be fined $2,500.”

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is financing the lawsuit against Quebec City’s administration.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2025.

Miriam Lafontaine, The Canadian Press