A protest in Saskatoon over the city allowing a controversial Christian singer’s concert to perform in a public park turned volatile Friday afternoon. As the peaceful demonstration ended at Civic Square, Mayor Cynthia Block stepped up to the podium to speak. Organizers grabbed the microphone and left before she had the opportunity to be heard. Block remained at the podium as half the crowd stayed back with more than a dozen vocal participants shouting at her for more than 10 minutes as the mayor stood silently, waiting for a chance to address the crowd. “F***ing liar!” one protestor said. “You’re a liar.” “You got nothing to say that’s worthwhile!” another said. “You have to revoke the permit,” another woman said, shouting through her tears. “It’s too hard on our community. Can’t you see?” Sean Feucht, a supporter of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement with Christian nationalist views, is scheduled to perform at Diefenbaker Park on Aug. 21 as part of his Revive in ’25 worship tour across Canada. Winnipeg, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Abbotsford, Gatineau, Quebec City and Vaughn have either revoked Feucht’s permits or cancelled his events. Officials have cited Feucht’s clash with community values, and concerns around public safety. Feucht has publicly spoken against the 2SLGBTQ+ community and called the Black Lives Matter movement a fraud. Despite the backlash, the city has approved Feucht’s permit and said “allowing an event to occur in public space does not mean the city is endorsing any event, any message of the event, or organizers.” Multiple people gathered on Friday were wearing or waving Pride flags. Others waved signs reading “Don’t host hate,” “No home for hate here,” and “Keep MAGA hate out of Saskatoon.” Block’s voice shook at times when she finally was able to speak. She told the remaining crowd she was told she would be allowed to speak at the protest. “That changed, and that’s okay. But what hurts my heart is if we stop talking to each other, I don’t know how we get to the other side,” Block said. The gathering responded and interrupted many times during Block’s address, which didn’t deter Block from saying what she planned to say. “I’m here to help you understand why I’m an ally, why I want to fight alongside you, not against you,” she said. “But if we are a mayor and council that doesn’t do our due diligence and ensure that we have dotted every I and cross every T on the legal line, and we go ahead and cancel this permit, what’s to stop the next mayor and council to do that to you?” Throughout the scheduled portion of the protest, many speakers took aim at the city and its processes for allowing the concert to take place on public grounds, citing the city’s values and how Feucht’s messaging harms the emotional health of people. In March, city council declared itself an “2SLGBTQQIA+ safe city,” although city administration or council couldn’t define what exactly that meant and found no Canadian precedent for such a designation. The city has previously said there are no public safety concerns that would require Feucht’s concert to be cancelled. The Saskatoon Police Service said it’s working with organizers to ensure public safety. But speakers at Friday’s protest claimed his concert going ahead is a potential harm to psychological safety. “There is no formal consideration for emotional or psychological trauma, even when it is foreseeable,” Niko Alexander said. “That omission is not only negligent, it is dangerous.”
