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The motion said a music video, temporarily titled “Project Bot Factory,” was being shot on federal lands on the evening of April 16
Published Apr 23, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 2 minute read
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Drake and McDonald’s are teaming up for a new OVO-inspired menu. Photo by Mark J. Terrill /APArticle content
Even Toronto city council has beef with Drake now.
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Councillors were to consider strengthening “notification requirements” for permitted pyrotechnics at Thursday’s meeting, mere days after residents near Downsview Park were rattled by a large explosion.
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The proposal was brought forward by the local councillor, James Pasternak, who in his motion wrote that he got dozens of emails, calls and other communications from North Yorkers, many of whom still have memories of 2008’s Sunrise Propane explosion.
The motion said a music video, temporarily titled “Project Bot Factory,” was being shot on federal lands on the evening of April 16. The Toronto Sun has reported that the video featured Toronto rapper Drake.
Management at Downsview Park has already issued a public apology.
“While there was never any risk to public safety – and Toronto Police Service and Toronto Fire Services were involved – we recognize that this does not lessen the impact the experience had on those affected,” the park’s management said in a statement.
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Crowds gather as Toronto Fire Services melts down Drake’s ice tower after chaotic ‘Iceman’ publicity stunt at a parking lot on Bond St, and Dundas St. E. in downtown Toronto on Wednesday April 22, 2026. Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Post‘Proved inadequate’
The explosion was the second Drake stunt this month that city hall has found itself responding to. Toronto’s leaders scrambled this week to contain the chaos brought about by a giant pile of ice the rapper set up near Yonge and Dundas Sts. – and then made sure to melt the remains before Mother Nature got a chance.
In his motion, Pasternak said the controlled blast created “a large fireball, mushroom cloud, loud explosive noise and vibrations that was seen and heard throughout the Ancaster-Downsview neighbourhoods.”
While posters were put up and flyers were sent out, “this proved to be inadequate,” Pasternak’s motion said. The scene had been described to residents as merely a “one-time flash” from eight mortars and 13 drums, plus fake snow.
Pasternak’s motion called for a “standardized notification protocol,” with a report back before a city hall committee by the second quarter of this year.
The motion was a late addition to city council’s agenda, and was marked as urgent so changes could be made before Toronto’s summer filming season.
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