PureVolume

LETS GET PHYSICAL THE CANADIAN TOUR! (Cancelled)

featuring: ELEPHANT MAN, KAT DE LUNA, SNOW and now added ALISON HINDS

*HAS BEEN CANCELLED*

for this apparent reason:

A human rights coalition is urging Ottawa to ban Jamaican dancehall artists from coming to Canada to perform music it says incites violence against gays and lesbians.

O'Neil Bryan, a.k.a. Elephant Man, is known for his antigay lyrics, said the Toronto-based Canadian Caribbean Human Rights Group.

Bryan is scheduled to arrive and perform in Winnipeg Thursday to launch a 12-city Canadian tour. He is also booked by Toronto's Kool Haus on Queens Quay on Sept. 28 (Show which has been cancelled)

"Artists have the right to free speech, but their presence in Canada can be perceived as a licence to incite violence. Canada has banned anti-Jew, anti-black people from entering the country. This should be no different."

The group said the offensive lyrics include lines such as "Battyman fi dead! Tek dem by surprise," "Log on and step pon chi chi man" and "Shot battybwoy, my big gun boom." (Battyman and battybwoy are derogatory terms for gay men in Jamaican patois.)

Citizenship and Immigration spokesperson Karen Shadd-Evelyn refused to comment on the case, but said people facing hate crime allegations from the public can be deemed inadmissible to Canada and border officials do consider such factors.

Today, a St. Catharines union pulled the CAW Hall for Bryan's stop there. Officials with Toronto's Kool Haus could not be reached for comment.

This article can be found here:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/258432