If You’ve Ever Been Involved in Toronto Music in Any Way, Read This

A month ago, The Board of Governors for Toronto’s Exhibition Place voted 4-3 in favour of banning all-ages electronic dance music (known to the kids as EDM) events at the city-owned venue. This decision, which may be reversed by City Council this week, was surrounded by a great deal of colourful language about “the children,” who have made for a convenient political volleyball of late, having also been cast at the centre of The Beer Store’s scaremongering campaign to prevent competition from convenience stores.The motion to ban EDM events was introduced by York West’s own gonzo councillor Giorgio Mammoliti at the behest of Zlatko Starkovski, friend of Rob Ford (who affectionately calls him “Z”) and owner of Muzik Nightclub (now famous for being the site of Rob Ford’s encounter with Justin Bieber and, allegedly, cocaine), which operates across the street from the Ex. “I think drug dealers, pedophiles and people of that nature flock to these places thinking they can sell drugs to kids,” Z told the board. “I’m not going to put my name to any one of those children’s deaths and I don’t want Exhibition Place to do that either,” added Mammoliti.

Ironically, city council’s reason for moving EDM events—back when they were known as “raves”—to Exhibition Place was sparked by the actual ecstasy-related death of a 20-year-old, Allen Ho, in an underground parking garage in 1999. At the time, parents called for a ban on raves, but cooler heads prevailed and the Toronto Public Health Board recommended Exhibition Place as the safest venue for such dance parties.