Toronto shows #ParkdaleLove after Mammoliti labels it ‘pedophile district’
Posted June 17, 2014 1:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Residents and fans of Parkdale, the eclectic west-end neighbourhood located near Queen and Dufferin streets, took to Twitter with the hashtag #ParkdaleLove after Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti disparaged the area as a ‘pedophile district.’
The Ward 7 councillor claims the number of sex offenders living in the neighbourhood and surrounding areas makes it unnameable to hosting large electronic dance music, or EDM, parties and concerts.
“With ‘all-ages’ parties being held next to a pedophile district we are simply encouraging the continued abuse of our children,” Mammoliti said in a press release issued Monday.
According to statistics released to media outlets in April, there were 56 registered sex offenders living in the M6K area code which includes Parkdale.
Gord Perks, the area’s councillor, defended Parkdale and called Mammoliti’s comments an attack “from one irresponsible voice.”
An outpouring of support for the neighbourhood included shout-outs to area restaurants, the Tool Library, and the accepting nature of its residents.
“If you don’t love #Parkdale, you don’t love Toronto,” tweeted the Indie Ale House Monday, pretty much summing it up.
