LET US PARTY: RAVERS

Thousands Protest City Ban By Dancing The Night Away

Thousands of ravers descended on Nathan Phillips Square last night to
dance, protest and demand councillors lift their ban on the dance parties.

"This is a generous, creative, forward-thinking scene and I want Mayor
Moose Man Mel to know that," said raver and CITY-TV host Daniel Richler,
urging the crowd of lollipop-sucking teens to keep fighting for their right
to party.

Although the city's ban on raves is likely to be lifted at today's council
meeting, tough new safety standards for the all-night dance parties are
also on the agenda.

If approved, Toronto's late-night event protocol will restrict rave
attendance to teens 16 and older and increase the number of pay-duty police
officers and ambulance crews at each event.

Rally organizer Will Chang warned those standards could have the same
effect as a ban.

"The first time a promoter is forced to hire an inordinate number of
pay-duty police officers, the rave scene will lose faith in the process and
go underground," said Chang.

Councillor Olivia Chow urged the crowd to show up for today's vote and said
their efforts have made a difference.

"Councillors are moving from ignorance to understanding; from fear to
respect," Chow said.

Councillor Brad Duguid said he and his colleagues are "pretty entrenched as
to what we're going to do.

"Three people have died of Ecstasy overdoses at raves in the past two years
- -- there's no question there's a link between the two," Duguid pointed out.
"We owe it to the public to take every measure we can to ensure these
people's safety."

Councillor George Mammoliti said witnessing last night's rave hasn't
changed his mind, either.

"In fact, it scares me. Most of these kids are under the age of 16,"
Mammoliti said.

The vote on raves will be held at 4:30 p.m. today.