ABBOTSFORD, BC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers representing Sean Feucht’s event organizer continue to pressure the City of Abbotsford in British Columbia to respect the fundamental freedoms of religion and expression.

The City denied the organizer’s permit application for a free worship concert scheduled to occur in Mill Lake Park on Sunday, August 24. This cancellation was part of a string of cancellations disrupting Mr. Feucht’s multi-city Canadian tour and igniting concerns about government overreach across the country.

After months of cooperation and efforts to meet the City’s requirements, the City suddenly informed Mr. Feucht’s event organizer that “safety letters” were needed from Abbotsford police and fire departments. But the City also said that the City’s Police Chief and Fire Chief would not issue those letters because they were of the opinion that the potential risks were beyond their departments’ capacity to manage them.

Constitutional lawyer Glenn Blackett said, “The City says it had information of protest-related safety risks three weeks ago that necessitated cancellation. To date, nobody—including the police—will provide records or further information about that.”

“How is the client supposed to address concerns the City won’t disclose? If the police are aware of a significant safety risk, why won’t they share that information with the organizer? None of this makes sense if the concern is really safety,” he added.

Despite repeated requests, the City has not disclosed any evidence-based reasons for blocking the concert.

Without this information, organizers are struggling to meaningfully address the City’s concerns in their new application.

When our lawyers asked the City for an expedited appeal of the decision to deny the permit, City officials claimed that an expedited appeal could not be processed because decision-makers were on “summer break” and that staff were “out of the office and unavailable.”

On August 18, 2025, the City confirmed that it had received and was reviewing a revised Special Event Permit application from the organizer. However, the City has yet to confirm whether the new application will be accepted or rejected.

“This case raises serious questions about transparency and procedural fairness,” said constitutional lawyer Marty Moore. “The City is effectively denying organizers any meaningful opportunity to appeal its decision, while withholding the very information needed to resolve its alleged safety concerns.”

Lawyers provided by the Justice Centre say that blocking worship events could expose the City and its decision makers to legal claims, damages, and costs.

Mr. Blackett said, “Assuming this has to go further, I look forward to reviewing the defendants’ production to confirm whether the cancellation was based on flimsy evidence and result-oriented reasoning. So far, I am not convinced this was anything but political. There is something seriously wrong in Canada if governments feel the need to cancel free speech and religious freedom when someone threatens a protest. Protest is part of democratic dialogue.”