Canadian musician Matthew Good has announced that he’s cancelling his U.S. tour dates in protest of U.S. President Donald Trump’s government and its ongoing tariffs policy.
Good, 54, made the announcement Saturday on Facebook, telling his U.S. fans that he cannot “in good conscience carry out my dates this summer in your country.”
“This is not fair to you, and I’m very well aware of that, but the truth is, every week that goes by, I have a deeper disdain for what’s going on there politically,” the four-time Juno winner wrote.
“My world has always focussed [sic] on political awareness, and I know that you might not all be on the same side, so I want to be clear about this,” he continued. “It’s MY opinion, and I’m willing to risk my future US career, to stand up against things today, and god willing, for ONLY another 3 years.”
The Load Me Up rocker pointed to Canada’s cancellation of the digital services tax on Canadian revenue of companies such as Amazon, Google and Meta as a main factor in the decision. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced late last month that Canada would cancel the planned tax as a condition of resuming trade talks with the U.S.
“Recently, it was announced that after a year of an imposed digital services tax, we (Canada) are backing down from that, to appease Mr. Trump’s government,” Good wrote. “This was approximately 2 billion dollars in revenue that has been accumulating, and we’re walking away from that,” Good wrote.
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“Add to that, the massive increase in visa costs, the fear mongering that even after we have our visas, we may still be denied entry if we have something negative to say about the current GOP, and I end up in a situation where I’m biting my tongue, and losing what credibility I had to stand up and say something.”
Good went on to say he will lose a week’s worth of work but “giving up 30% of our earnings to a withholding tax, walking on eggshells at the border, and actively participating in the silencing of opinions, is a bigger cost to me personally.”
“I realize that I have approximately .00001% impact on things overall, as this was just a few thousand tickets, but I can’t stand by and be quiet while our amazing country is bullied into walking away from billions in needed revenue, constantly left wondering if we actually have a partner or an enemy to the south, and equally as tragic, supporting someone who has completely bastardized the institution of art and culture in the US.”
Good also said he would “invite other artists to join me” but knows that is “unfair.”
Good was scheduled to perform in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo in the coming days. He’s still encouraging fans to show their support for the band Texas King, which would have joined him at the shows.
The Hello Time Bomb singer also took to Instagram after Trump first made his comments early in the new year about wanting Canada to join the United States as the 51st state.
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“I did not ever think that something of this troubling significance would ever occur in my lifetime,” he began. “Yesterday the Prime Minister resigned. Today, the incoming President of the United States clearly admitted at a press conference that one of his goals is to annex Canada through the use of what can only be termed as economic warfare.”
Good said that his family fought in the Second World War “for the freedoms and sovereignty of this nation, Canada.”
“I have travelled this nation more times coast to coast than most ever will. And I can tell you without hesitation that despite those petty divisions some attempt to promote, the majority of us hold this land dear,” he wrote. “From Haida Gwaii to Halifax, we’re Canadians that have the ability to share the best of ourselves with others. And we do.”
“In all of this, there will come a time to stand up and refuse to abandon this nation and what it means to truly be Canadian. I hope when that time comes, you will join me in doing so,” Good concluded his post.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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