A social media campaign has sprung up in support of Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood after a city councillor made inflammatory comments about the area in a news release.

In a press release issued Monday, Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti called Parkdale a “pedophile district,” citing government data showing that a higher than average number of registered sex offenders live in the area.

He made the comments ahead of a public consultation on all-ages electronic dance music (EDM) parties being held at Exhibition Place.

“Given the many issues surrounding children relating to these events there should be great concern over the fact that the neighbouring Parkdale area is home to one of the highest concentrations of registered sex offenders, including pedophiles, living in the City of Toronto,” Mammoliti said in the statement. “With ‘all-ages’ parties being held next to a pedophile district we are simply encouraging the continued abuse of our children.”

In his statement, Mammoliti, who sits on the Exhibition Place board, went on to suggest Parkdale Coun. Gord Perks is advocating that children and adults “party together.”

Responding to the statement with his own, Perks called the comments an “awful slur against our wonderful neighbourhood” that came from “one irresponsible voice.”

“As we all know Parkdale is the kind of community everyone in Toronto admires,” Perks said. “We are economically, socially, and culturally diverse. We accept and welcome and love each other. If the rest of Toronto were more like Parkdale, Toronto would be an even better place to live.”

Within the hour, Twitter exploded with positive comments about the area, with the hashtag “parkdalelove” quickly becoming a trending term on Twitter.

“My son proudly plays hockey for the Parkdale Flames. And It's a great neighbourhood,” wrote Twitter user MurrayCooke10.

“Parkdale is home to the Parkdale Tool Library, which is just about one of the most brilliant ideas ever,” wrote @sboulton.

Speaking with CP24 reporter Rena Heer Monday afternoon, Mammoliti refused to back away from the comments.

“I’m not going to apologize to anybody,” he said when Heer asked him point-blank if he would apologize for the “pedophile district” comment.

He called the EDM parties at Exhibition Place “a disaster waiting to happen.”

In April, the board moved to ban the parties from Exhibition Place. However, Perks helped convince council to reverse the ban the following month, saying the parties would be safer if held on city property because paramedics and police would be present.

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