Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, known for his intentionally outrageous statements, baselessly suggested Monday that Councillor Gord Perks is aiding pedophiles — and called Parkdale, which Perks represents, a “pedophile district.”

Mammoliti’s words were bewildering even to another outspoken right-winger, Councillor Doug Ford, who said Mammoliti has “lost his mind.” Perks said diverse, accepting Parkdale is “a model for how the rest of Toronto should be.”

“In this job, sometimes people make personal attacks,” Perks said. “That’s water off my back. What really bothers me, though, is that probably one of the very best places to live anywhere in the world, and that’s Parkdale, got attacked. That I won’t tolerate.”

Mammoliti made the comments in a news release on the subject of all-ages electronic dance music parties at Exhibition Place. Mammoliti persuaded the Ex board to ban the events in April, but Perks helped convince city council to reverse the ban in May.

Perks argued that pushing the gatherings off of city property, where they are tightly regulated, would have only made participants less safe. Mammoliti suggested, without any evidence, that Perks has a darker motive.

“The question needs to be posed to the Parkdale representative, Councillor Gord Perks, who has publically (sic) condoned the all ages promoters — why are you advocating for children and adults to be partying together right next door to your ward which has one of the largest concentrations of registered sex offenders in the city? Who are you really representing? This is about much more than a dance party,” he said in the release.

Mammoliti also said: “With ‘all-ages’ parties being held next to a pedophile district we are simply encouraging the continued abuse of our children.”

He stood behind his remarks at a public consultation meeting held on the Exhibition Place grounds Monday evening.

“I think that everybody in this city should be worried about the amount of people who have settled in and around this community who are sex offenders,” he said. “I won’t apologize for my particular concern around this and I will continue pointing to it as long as I am a politician.”

Mammoliti told the Star that the data shows he has 15 registered sex offenders in his ward and that his office is currently trying to identify those individuals.

“We’re looking them down now and we’ll find out where they live and I’ll decide what I need to do when I find out where those 15 live,” he said.

The ban was initially pushed by Zlatko Starkovski, owner of Muzik nightclub, which also operates on the Exhibition grounds. In his April comments to the board, Starkovski himself suggested that all-ages events are a beacon for pedophiles.

“I don’t pretend to represent pedophiles. I don’t want anything to do with them and quite frankly I don’t think they should exist in society, and if that means death then that’s fine with me,” said Mammoliti.

One community member spoke at the meeting — Chloe-Marie Brown, a policy developer with the Toronto Youth Cabinet, who was in favour of the electronic dance events continuing.

“We’re moving forward with the Music City initiative, and to deprive the city of such a cultural space, it’s a disservice to the youth,” said Brown.

Data obtained by Global News shows that low-income Parkdale is home to a relatively high percentage of sex offenders — but still fewer than 100 residents out of tens of thousands. Neither Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) nor Starkovski has presented any evidence for the assertion that these offenders have targeted the attendees of electronic dance music events.

“For someone to accuse a whole district of being pedophiles, I think the guy’s lost his mind, Mammoliti, some days,” said Ford.

“I may not (agree) with Councillor Perks, but I’ll support him 100 per cent on this.”

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Mammoliti and the left-wing Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) had a chin-to-chin clash at a council meeting in 2012. Mammoliti memorably told a radio host that, had Perks made physical contact, he would have “kicked him in the nuts and the face at the same time.”

The Exhibition Place board of governors is scheduled to meet June 25 with the future of electronic dance music parties on the agenda.