Forget all the talk of evil web bots and ticket scalpers; the City of Mississauga wants to put on a free Tragically Hip show for as many as 30,000 fans.

“Wow, I wasn't prepared for that one,” said acting mayor Chris Fonseca, after Councillor Nando Iannicca proposed the idea at Wednesday's council meeting.

If the plan flies, the free show, with all costs for the band and fans covered by the city, would be held at downtown's Celebration Square. Iannicca’s proposal was received by council and now city staff will explore whether it can work.

Iannicca said the aim is to “honour” lead singer Gord Downie, who was recently diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, and the band's fans.

After tickets for the Hip's summer Man Machine Poem tour were sold out in minutes, the band added four more shows, but tickets that had been snatched up by re-sellers began appearing on secondary markets for prices far beyond face value. Iannicca said the free concert would give thousands of fans the chance to see Downie and the Hip one last time.

The band's management was contacted by the Star to see if the idea might happen, but it has not yet responded.

“If they would like to do it, we would be totally honoured to make that happen,” said Councillor Jim Tovey, after Wednesday's meeting.

Iannicca, a longtime Mississauga councillor with deep ties to the city's business community, said he would “personally” pull all the fundraising together to make it happen.

“Celebration Square staff are discussing this exciting opportunity with Councillor Iannicca,” said Paul Mitcham, head of community services for the city. “We intend to get in touch with the Tragically Hip after just hearing the discussion at council this morning.”

Councillor George Carlson said he would love to see Downie and the band one last time. “That would be tragically awesome.”

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