{"id":622449,"date":"2026-04-23T03:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T03:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622449\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T03:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T03:20:08","slug":"drakes-promotional-stunts-prompt-city-council-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/622449\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake\u2019s promotional stunts prompt city council motion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

People stop to look at the huge blocks of ice stacked high in a downtown Toronto parking lot on April 21.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Drake\u2019s antics in Toronto over the past week, including a controlled explosion that rattled residents and the installation of a massive ice structure that his fans tried to melt with uncontrolled flames, prompted calls for the city to implement a more stringent notification system for pyrotechnic stunts.<\/p>\n

Councillor James Pasternak, whose north Toronto ward of York Centre was the site of the explosion set off for a music video by the rapper on April 16, introduced a motion in council on Wednesday for planned \u201cshock and awe events.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe absolutely have to have a more robust notification system when you\u2019re doing high-end explosives, people thought it was a plane crash or an industrial accident,\u201d Mr. Pasternak said in an interview. \u201cIt was pretty scary stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Firefighters in Toronto say they’re attempting to melt down Drake’s now-notorious tower of ice blocks due to individuals taking flames to the frozen structure. The sculpture was part of a promotional start for Drake’s upcoming album called ‘Iceman.’<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The city-approved explosion, ignited for a music-video shoot for Drake\u2019s coming album Iceman, rocked local residents, particularly those who lived through the nearby Sunrise Propane explosion in 2008, which led to the deaths of two people and the evacuation of thousands. Mr. Pasternak said his office received dozens of complaints about Drake\u2019s \u201clarge fireball,\u201d with residents reporting shaking houses, frightened children and flashbacks to the 2008 incident.<\/p>\n

The motion, which is expected to be discussed Thursday, would require an expanded and standardized notification system to warn residents of \u201ccity-permitted pyrotechnic events.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Agency Group PR, which represents Drake, did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment. <\/p>\n

On Monday, a few days after the explosion, crowds began flocking to a typically innocuous downtown parking lot, where an enormous ice tower had been erected. Drake promised on social media that the release date for his new album was hidden inside. <\/p>\n

On the scene at Drake\u2019s ice-block monolith as fans try to melt away the mystery<\/a><\/p>\n

Eager fans took pickaxes and flamethrowers to the structure. Stefania Impellizzeri, a Toronto Metropolitan University associate professor and the Jet Ice Research Chair in sustainable materials chemistry, told The Globe and Mail that it would have otherwise taken between 10 days and two weeks to melt naturally. <\/p>\n

The release date didn\u2019t stay hidden for long. After a fan found a package frozen at the top of the structure, Drake confirmed Tuesday night that Iceman drops on May 15.<\/p>\n

Drake obtained a permit from the city for the explosion, but officials said they didn\u2019t know the ice installation was coming. City spokesperson Russell Baker said the parking lot is private property, and the owner didn\u2019t need a municipal permit to install the ice blocks. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters Wednesday that she was \u201csurprised\u201d by the structure, adding that she was excited for the rapper\u2019s new album.<\/p>\n

But after crowds of people began taking open flames and flammable liquids to the installation, Toronto fire crews were called in Tuesday evening to handle the situation. Fire Chief Jim Jessop said flame-wielding visitors in an uncontrolled environment posed a public-safety risk, forcing the department to take \u201cinitiating measures\u201d to shrink the ice structure.<\/p>\n

Firefighters directed hoses filled with warm water toward the ice, said Toronto Fire spokesperson Alex Vashkevich. <\/p>\n

He told The Globe as of 5 p.m. Wednesday that Toronto Fire Services had stopped spraying the structure, and event organizers will privately handle further removal of the ice blocks. <\/p>\n

Ms. Chow said the fire department, not the city, decided to wash away the structure, but she supports its decision. The city is on the hook for the firefighting costs, Mr. Baker said, adding that responses to fire-safety risks are funded through the city\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The heavy use of water to melt the ice structure affected nearby residences and businesses. Unity Health Toronto spokesperson Hayley Mick said the hospital network\u2019s clinic next to the ice site had periods of low water pressure on Wednesday, but it did not affect patient care. Ms. Mick said roads around the clinic were closed as crews responded to the ice, hindering access to the clinic for some patients with mobility issues.<\/p>\n

With reports from Josh O\u2019Kane and The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: People stop to look at the huge blocks of ice stacked high in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,75,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,341,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-622449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-entertainment","25":"tag-environment","26":"tag-federal-government","27":"tag-foreign-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","30":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","31":"tag-government","32":"tag-life-news","33":"tag-lifestyle","34":"tag-local-news","35":"tag-manitoba","36":"tag-music","37":"tag-national-news","38":"tag-new-brunswick","39":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","40":"tag-northwest-territories","41":"tag-nova-scotia","42":"tag-nunavut","43":"tag-ontario","44":"tag-pei","45":"tag-photos","46":"tag-political-news","47":"tag-political-opinion","48":"tag-politics","49":"tag-politics-news","50":"tag-quebec","51":"tag-sports-news","52":"tag-technology","53":"tag-travel","54":"tag-trudeau","55":"tag-us-news","56":"tag-world-news","57":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}