Michael Higgins: Musician and pastor Sean Feucht raises Indigenous ire by cancelling himself
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Kawartha First Nations, near Fenelon Falls, Ont., reached out to Feucht last week after learning that six of his concert events in Eastern Canada had been cancelled.
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Feucht and an entourage turned up around midnight Saturday to inspect accommodation and the venue at the First Nations Treasure Island Resort and were less than pleased.
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'Maybe he heard Treasure Island Resort and thought it was more glamorous,' said Chief William of the Kawartha First Nations in an interview with National Post.
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The resort is more humble than the word would suggest, catering as it does to selling ATVs, servicing people who drive them and offering some accommodation to homeless types.
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'Even if the accommodations weren't the Taj Mahal, we believe worship is about humility, not comfort,' said Deputy Chief Steve Lesperance in a statement.
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However, Treasure Island Resort does have a Christian ethos and was hoping to attract a couple of hundred people to hear Feucht speak, some from as far away as Sault St. Marie, Ont.
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Feucht had agreed to hold a 9 a.m. prayer service at the resort on Sunday, July 27, but after viewing the accommodation, his Canadian national director sent the First Nations an email at 5 a.m. cancelling.
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In that email, Nichola Shilton said Feucht 'was appalled with the sleeping conditions of the lodging that was provided, especially after a very long few days. He also had two women travelling with him and could not put them through sleeping in those conditions.
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In an email reply to Shilton, Lesperance said they had a clean mobile home ready for Feucht as well as accommodations for 15 crew.
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Lesperance wrote, 'Cassie, Sean's road manager, told me, 'all they wanted was a place to lay their heads and a shower' after sleeping on the bus for the last few days. We delivered exactly that.'
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It is ironic that Feucht has risen to fame on the back of his shows being cancelled in Canada, only to cancel on a Christian First Nation that had reached out to help him.
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A disappointed Chief William believes that Feucht's actions were decidedly less than Christian.
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'We offered to put him up for a week so we could pray here. We would have prayed in the parking lot if necessary.
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'He didn't seem interested.'
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Canadian venues which were supposed to host Feucht suddenly found themselves citing 'safety' concerns after discovering the missionary and musician held strong Christian beliefs on a range of topics, including abortion, gender, and LGBT communities.
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Feucht is also a major supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, which, in the current climate, may have influenced the decision about whether to allow his concerts to go on.
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Feucht was supposed to begin a series of concerts beginning in Halifax last week at the York Redoubt National Historic Site. But Parks Canada pulled his permit, citing 'heightened public safety concerns.'
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