

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





There is a debate brewing at city hall over whether kids of all ages should be allowed to attend raves at the Exhibition grounds.

It started after Exhibition Place's board of governors decided to ban the concerts at the city-owned facility last month over safety concerns.

However, two city councillors who sit on the board believe the decision was a mistake.

Coun. Mike Layton, who represents the area, has brought forward a motion to review safety protocols but still allow the all-ages parties to continue.

Layton, and fellow board member Coun. Gord Perks support the events because they say it is safer for underage youth to party on supervised city-owned property.

But Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, who also sits on the board, contends that the venue is not safe because of the documented drug and alcohol use at the parties.

Mammoliti says he is pushing to have a startling confidential report released to the public that shows just how many teens have been hospitalized after attending the raves.

This report was viewed by the Board of Governors during an in-camera session of their meeting and therefore details of the report can not be made public.

“If people knew how many children were being taken away by paramedics… I think that everyone would be on our side that city land shouldn’t be used for these (parties),” he told reporters on Tuesday morning.

“The decision the board made was the right decision.”

Coun. Perks would not comment on any confidential documents but said with the presence of paramedics and police, the all-ages raves are the safest events in the city.

"Toronto Public Health actually advocated that we continue to hold these events on city property because it is the safest way to do it,” he said.

The city began to permit all-ages parties at Exhibition in 1999 after a 20-year-old Ryerson University student overdosed from ecstasy at an illicit underground rave.