Justin Trudeau begs Taylor Swift to hold concerts in Canada: ‘Don’t make it another cruel summer’

From Kansas to Melbourne, Tokyo to Dublin, Buenos Aires, Singapore and even Madrid. All over the world, Taylor Swift’s global tour has become the talk of the town for millions of people, and getting tickets has become a vital goal for many this summer. The American singer is performing not only her latest album, Midnights, but also a fine selection of her ten previous ones - of which she has sold more than 110 million copies worldwide - and the more than 200 songs she has released, most of them written or co-written by herself. This is all part of The Eras Tour, a 53-show tour that will close on August 9 in Los Angeles (where she has already scheduled five concerts and where it would not be strange for there to be some more), and which will continue in its worldwide phase on August 24 at the Foro Sol in Mexico City. In the Mexican capital she has already almost sold out four concerts out of a total of 78 that she will play in the rest of the world. Is this all? No. Surprisingly, Canada has been left out of the tour. Something that, for its citizens, is almost an insult. A matter that has also reached its leaders.

Singapore will host six events. Stockholm, three. Germany, seven, in three cities (in Munich, Hamburg and even in Gelsenkirchen, near Dortmund). London’s Wembley Stadium will be filled six times with her music. But Canada has been left out of the nearly 80 dates Swift has included in her world tour. Nor is it included in the U.S. leg of the tour, which kicked off last March in Glendale, Arizona (which changed its name for a few hours in honor of the singer), and which includes 53 concerts. Hence the complaints of Canadians, who have come to express themselves through the voice of Justin Trudeau, their prime minister. On Wednesday, July 5, the Pennsylvania singer announced that she was adding 14 more dates to her world tour of more than 20 countries... but once again Canada was left out. And Trudeau has reacted by asking the artist to please include them in her tour.

Trudeau, 51, a father of three teenage children, is up to date on the music scene and, as a good swiftie (as the singer’s fans are known), has addressed the singer via Twitter and using the lyrics to several of her songs: Anti Hero, I Know Places and Cruel Summer. “It’s me, hi. I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another cruel summer. We hope to see you soon,” read the prime minister’s message, which was in turn a response to Swift’s announcement of extending her tour, and where she said she could not “contain her joy at adding 14 more dates to The Eras Tour”, and that the band Paramore would also accompany her “around the UK and Europe next sum

For weeks the local media have been complaining bitterly that Swift has ignored them. The singer’s tour sells out wherever she goes (at an average price of about 250 dollars each); tickets which are purchased through Ticketmaster, a website that became overloaded with these sales during the first days and even reached the U.S. Congress, where the platform was accused of monopoly.

But, on top of that, the 33-year-old artist rakes in about 13 million dollars for each concert; from March until the end of June, according to Pollstar magazine, it is estimated that The Eras Tour has collected 300 million dollars and that the total of the world tour -which for the moment will last 17 months, until August 2024- could reach 1.3 billion dollars. This would make her one of the richest artists on the planet.

Furthermore, such is the deployment of means and attendees for her concerts that Swift leaves a significant amount of money in each city she visits. This has angered Canadians, who feel excluded. The annoyance is such that, at the end of June, a Conservative MP named Matt Jeneroux announced his intention to lodge a formal complaint with the Canadian House of Commons.

In a letter he posted on his Instagram profile and reported by ET Canada, Jeneroux said that Swift has neglected Canada. “Not only is this leaving Canadian fans without the opportunity to see her tour, but it is also leaving Canada out of the economic opportunities her shows generate. It is estimated that these shows could generate $4.6 billion for local economies. Fans just don’t simply attend concerts, they spend money at local businesses including hotels, restaurants and shops,” he added. “This motion is non-partisan in nature and requires swift action to address what I can only assume is a serious oversight.”

She has not given concerts in Canada since the tour for her album Reputation, in 2018. The specialized music magazine Billboard has asked her representatives what are the reasons why, in more than 130 concerts, Canada has not been able to make any. For now, there is no answer.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition