Zac Brown Band cancels Canada concert Friday night after some members denied entry at border
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KRTX.COM – As the Canadian government tries to prevent the cancellation of a concert by the Zac Brown Band, it looks like a similar fate may be headed to a concert by U.S. rapper Rick Ross.
The rap star had his visa approved by the United States border crossing in Toronto as he tried to cross into the United States on March 20.
The singer turned down a flight to London in order to fly to Toronto from New York and was stopped at the border because he was on his way to sell over-sized sunglasses on StubHub.
He was told to turn around, which he did and was allowed to continue his journey. But now it appears the Canadian government is going to try to do something similar, forcing the concert to be cancelled, even though it’s not at the actual border.
CTV News reported Friday that a “major Canadian immigration agency” is telling concert promoters not to allow any U.S. citizens to sell merchandise at the concert Friday night. The Canadian Border Services Agency told the agency that “any unauthorized persons who are found at the border with the intent to purchase merchandise… will be denied entry.”
If a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a “Canadian visa, work permit, or student visa” is found at one of the border crossings in the country without a valid reason, he or she is denied a visa and will instead be forced to return to the U.S.
But while the U.S. government said this applies to anyone entering the country, the CBA said the Canadian government’s order is not about anyone entering or leaving Canada “but rather is about any person who has been granted a visa or another type of Canadian visa for the purpose of traveling to the United States.”
The Canadian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on whether it planned to send any Canadian citizens to the concert.
The Canadian Border Services Agency has said that the U.S. government’s order is “based on a reasonable concern for public safety.”