Morrissey Returns To Canada After Years Of Protest

(CelebrityAccess) Morrissey is taking a musical jaunt through Canada after spending 15 years shunning the country because of its advocacy for seal hunting.

“I fully realize that the absence of any Morrissey concerts in Canada is unlikely to bring the Canadian economy to its knees, but it is our small protest against this horrific slaughter,” Morrissey said at the time, according to the CBC. He doubled down in 2014, saying that “until this annual massacre is abolished, Canada itself is regrettably fashionably dead.”

The singer/songwriter has made a second career out of advocating for animal rights and his fervor for veganism to the point where meat cannot be served on the premises at his shows.

The “fashionably dead” comment was a response to Sophie Doucet, a representative of federal fisheries minister Gail Shea, who issued a statement that Morrissey should reconsider his stance because of the livelihoods of Canadians in rural communities.

“I should remind Sophie Doucet that building and maintaining the concentration camps of Auschwitz also provided livelihoods, but this hardly made the camps warranted,” Morrissey responded. “Let it also be added that the vast financial benefits of the seal slaughter are not directly intended for those hard-working men and women in rural communities, who, in fact, are merely used by the Fisheries Minister to do the messy task of searing flesh.”

Morrissey now says that he can do more good by performing in the country in April, donating proceeds from the concerts to animal rights organizations in Canada, than eschewing the country entirely.

The following statement was posted on his website:

My decision to return to Canada after almost 15 years of protest against its savage and Neanderthal annual Baby Seal Kill is entirely because my stance was ultimately of no use and helped no one. My voice was drowned out by the merciless swing of spiked axes crushing the heads of babies. On my return to Canada I feel that I can be of more use by making sizeable donations to animal protection groups in each city that I play.

The current Canadian government neurotically preach diversity: the understanding that each individual is unique, and has much to offer because of their differences. This tolerance does not extend to the seal family – who hurt no one, yet who have no rights to life in the new non-discriminatory Canada. Will my Canadian tour be a success ? I have no idea. I shall give my best and do my best. We are all passionately looking forward to renewed friendships.

Morrissey’s Canadian Tour Dates:

04/15 – Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre
04/17 – Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
04/18 – Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
04/26 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
04/27 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
04/29 – Montreal, QC @ MTelus

h/t CoS