The American election cycle was marked by a constant stream of artists demanding that Donald Trump stop playing their music without permission at campaign rallies — and now that same phenomenon has come to Canada, as Toronto's Martha and the Muffins demanded that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre stop playing their song "Echo Beach."
Speaking with the Canadian Press, the group said that they told Poilievre last month to stop playing their 1980 hit at campaign events and even sent the party a cease and desist, but that he had continued regardless.
"We don't want to be associated by our work in any shape or form with them," the band's Mark Gane said, calling it "disrespectful" that the Cons didn't honour his request.
The band said in a statement, "'Echo Beach' remains a song about escapism, imagination, and personal expression — not a soundtrack for partisan political campaigns. Martha and the Muffins demand that Mr. Poilievre and the Conservative Party immediately cease the use of their music."
Election votes are still being counted as of this writing, but Poilievre appears to have lost the election, with the Liberals likely taking a minority win. Poilievre even lost in his own riding, ending his 20-year tenure as the MP for Ottawa's Carleton district.