- Fraser Valley Current
- Posts
- Wednesday - July 30 - Abby residents call on city to reject Sean Feucht’s permit
Wednesday - July 30 - Abby residents call on city to reject Sean Feucht’s permit
Lubna El Elaimy
July 30, 2025
☀️High 30C
Good morning!
Today is going to be one of the hottest days this summer. Heat warnings are currently in place for much of the BC interior, with some areas projected to see temps in the high-30s. Conditions are hot, dry, and perfect for wildfires, so please practise basic fire safety if you go camping or host a barbecue this week. I’m sure you don’t want your neighbours to remember you as the person who started the fire that had everyone evacuated.
Locals in Abbotsford are joining many other communities across Canada in demanding that their city deny Sean Feucht, a controversial US preacher, singer, and musician, a permit to perform in a public park. Feucht is a Trump supporter and is strongly associated with the MAGA movement. He has expressed controversial opinions about gender, LGBTQ rights, immigrants, and so on.
Right now, Feucht is on tour in Canada, and let’s just say, it isn’t going to plan. City after city has cancelled his performances after residents expressed dismay at his plans to perform in public spaces. In one instance, the concert had to take place at a private venue, an evangelical church in Montreal. Now the city is fining the church for failing to obtain a permit.
What do you think of the Feucht controversy? Should he be allowed to perform his music in a public space, or should this type of performance be confined to private spaces? Should it be banned altogether? I’d love to know what you think.
– Lubna
The Fraser Valley Current is an Overstory Media publication. Click here to subscribe to our sister publication, the Georgia Straight.
Traffic & Weather
🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope
🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.
🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.
News
Centre for abused children to open in Chilliwack September 18
A new centre for children who are victims of child abuse is opening up in Chilliwack in mid-September. The new Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) grand opening will take place on September 18.
The Chilliwack CYAC will be located in the existing Chilliwack Community Services building, the Paramount Building, 100 - 46187 Yale Rd. Chilliwack Community Services Society is a registered charitable society in BC that provides a wide range of services for families, children, seniors, and newcomers.
“We currently have two interview rooms that the RCMP have been using for quite some time, successfully, and they’ve been interviewing children and youth, and vulnerable witnesses,” said Jennifer Campbell, advocacy coordinator with Chilliwack Community Services. “We are in the midst of hiring for a child and youth advocate and a part-time therapist that will also be attached to the centre.”
At present, Campbell said, it isn’t clear how many children the new CYAC will be able to serve with two part-time staffers. That will become clearer once the centre opens and starts receiving referrals.
Related
Need to Know
🚨 Menno Home death now an Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) case. [Abbotsford Police Department]
🥵 Heat warnings in place this week in the Fraser Valley, including Chilliwack.
🪦 19-year-old man dies after falling into Coquihalla River near Othello Tunnels. [RCMP]
🚔 Police investigating homicide in Popkum after responding to reports of a burning car and finding a dead body inside, IHIT deployed. [RCMP]
🏫 226 new childcare spaces in Abbotsford School District starting September. [Abbotsford News]
🎨 Langley Arts Council launches new program to support local artists. [Langley Advance Times]
🔪 Machete-wielding man arrested near bus stop in Mission. [Mission City Record]
🔬 Chilliwack's Novel Biome prides itself on being at the forefront of FMT and gut microbiome research. They are making significant strides in the emerging field of microbiome medicine. Read more here.*
☺ 🍋TODAY’S SMILE: Aldergrove’s Little Lemonade Legends competition took place on Sunday, July 27. One kid squeezed 100 lemons and added local blueberries to her concoction. [Langley Advance Times]
*Sponsored Listing
SPONSORED BY ABBOTSFORD AGRIFAIR
Get revved up at Agrifair 2025!
Get revved up for Agrifair 2025, roaring into Abbotsford Exhibition Park August 1–3! New this year: Monster Spectacular, Canada’s biggest monster truck tour, featuring freestyle motocross, ATV races, and the return of the Demolition Derby — now in a new location.
The Mainstage lineup rocks all weekend: Faber Drive on Friday, tribute acts to Elvis, ZZ Top, and The Tragically Hip on Saturday, and Tom Lavin & the Legendary Powder Blues closing things out Sunday.
Families can explore a mobile planetarium, splash through the Monster Foam Party, and solve the kid-friendly Escape Room.
Plus: Pig Races, All-Star Wrestling, Extreme Dogs, Country Horse Classic, ag shows, and antique tractors all included with admission.
The Agenda
Abby residents call on city to reject Sean Feucht’s permit
The residents want to stop the MAGA-adjacent performer from preaching his “gospel of dissent”
Sean Feucht’s Canadian tour is facing backlash all over Canada, leading to widespread cancellations in Quebec City, Charlottetown, Halifax, Moncton, and Vaughan. The controversy is heating up with the approaching BC leg of Feucht’s tour, in which he intends to perform at Mill Lake Park in Abbotsford on August 24.
After performing at an evangelical church in Montreal, the city of Montreal fined the Ministerios Restauración Church in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough $2,500 for hosting Feucht’s concert without a permit.
Abbotsford resident and author, Elsie K Neufeld, wrote a widely shared letter to Abbotsford mayor and council calling on them to reject Feucht’s permit to perform at Mill Lake Park in August.
“Recently a local artist, Linda Klippenstein, began a project to visually represent all 116 languages spoken in our richly ethnically diverse city. She has invited speakers of each language-speaking group to write the word ‘Hello’ in their respective languages on flower petals that, ultimately, will become a garden mosaic on display to mirror the diversity of our city,” Neufeld wrote. “What Feucht preaches is the opposite. He ‘others’ those who are unlike him, most often the marginalized. Worse, he condemns them to hell, says they are ‘evil,’ ‘of Satan.’ He is anti-diversity. That POTUS has sought him out to affirm his ‘mission’ speaks volumes. He condemns, no vilifies, inclusion, and as we can see with the anti-immigrant arrests and deportations.”
Other residents wrote an open letter to the mayor and council calling on them to reject Feucht’s permit, citing the various bylaws the concert would violate. The letter mentions the Parks Bylaw, which protects residents’ peaceful use of public areas such as Mill Lake Park, the council’s diversity policy, and the BC Human Rights Code, among others.
At the time of writing, Neufeld received a response from only one council member, Dave Loewen, who supported the sentiment in Neufeld’s letter. Ultimately, the decision will rest with city staff and the city manager.
Community journalism needs the entire community for it to succeed.
As part of a membership, you get our special weekend roundup of all the things you might’ve missed each week!
📸 Current (Satellite) Cam
Can you find the location depicted in this satellite image? You can use Google here, if you need help. If you find the location, copy the URL and paste it into the form here. Or just tell us the location in your own words. We’ll share the location in tomorrow’s newsletter.
🗓 Things to do
Live music for free: The next Mission Twilight Concert is on July 30 at Fraser River Heritage Park, 7494 Mary St.
Paddle boarding on Cultus Lake: Friday, August 1, free if you bring your own paddle board, or $20 if you need to rent one.
Fort Langley Brigade Days: Travel back in time and experience life in the 19th century, watch reenactments and more during the long weekend in Fort Langley. August 2-4.
Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.
That’s it!
Thanks for reading Fraser Valley Current today ♥️
If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another local.
Reply