Toronto Councillor Josh Colle has the perfect solution to the ticket shortage plaguing the Tragically Hip summer tour: throw a free show at Downsview Park.

Colle, who counts himself amongst the Hip’s legion of fans, told the Star the federal park, which has hosted as many as 450,000 for bands such as the Rolling Stones, provides the perfect venue.

“I just thought with all the obvious demand out there, and the frustration on the ticket side ...” Colle said.

“It would just be a really fantastic opportunity to let everyone thank, celebrate the Tragically Hip and what they’ve meant to the city and to Canada and to all our music lives.”

He’s asked York Centre MP Michael Levitt to back his idea of accommodating fans who have been unable to get tickets to the band’s shows this summer.

“I’ve be in touch with Councillor Colle. We are both big Hip fans and it would be great to have them play at Downsview Park for their Toronto fans,” Levitt told the Star in an email. “I hope it is a possibility; that of course is a decision for the band’s management to consider.”

Colle said he’s made some inroads with Live Nation and Eggplant Entertainment through his work on the city’s Music Advisory Council, and hopes they’ll take his suggestion seriously.

He sent them a note Wednesday afternoon.

Neither the Hip’s manager, Patrick Sambrook, nor representatives from his company, Eggplant Entertainment, were immediately available for comment.

Carrie Davis, chief communications officer for Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster and promoter for the Hip’s tour, was not immediately available for comment.

Ever since learning of frontman Gord Downie’s terminal brain cancer, fans have been clamouring for tickets for a farewell tour, for one last chance to say goodbye to the Canadian icon.

But fans say within moments of going on sale, they were all scooped up, with many now being resold at prices that have exceeded $1,000.

“I’m sure it could be a really special moment and poignant and sad, and it’s being ruined in a way by scalpers,” Colle said.

Colle has been a fan of the Hip since the band’s early success, he said, and remembers whiling away many a Victoria Day weekend listening to their music.

“I remember just listening to Wheat Kings on repeat,” he said.

While a student at McGill University, he crowded into his friend’s apartment to watch the Hip play on Saturday Night Live in 1995.

“I’m sure we weren’t literally waving Canadian flags, but we kind of had that moment,” he said.

Although the Hip were formed in Kingston, Ont., and will close out their tour there on Aug. 20, the band holds a special place in Torontonians’ hearts and deserves to be honoured city-wide, Colle says.

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Over the years, they’ve played many concerts in the city, and Downie has made Toronto his home for decades.

“They do have a really special connection to Toronto,” Colle said. “I know the whole nation feels an ownership to them, but with Gord being a Torontonian and their connection to the city, I think it would be appropriate to celebrate them in grand style here.”

Downsview isn’t the only venue being tossed around for a big Hip farewell concert; Mississauga Councillor Nando Iannicca suggested the city’s Celebration Square could play host to one.