TORONTO - According to the Black Eyed Peas, Canada should expand its borders.

“All of North America should be called Canada,” will.i.am suggested to the crowd at the Molson Amphitheatre last night. “The United States of Canada.”

No word yet on how U.S. President George W. Bush might respond to this, but we’re guessing not well.

In the meantime, the Black Eyed Peas —will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and focal point Fergie — continued their love affair with Toronto last night. At least, it seems like a love affair if you take them at their word.

The Black Eyed Peas know how to work a crowd, but sometimes they can go over the top with it. If they had given out Loonies every time one of the group members elicited cheap applause by yelling “Toronto,” the audience would have felt like lottery winners.

The Black Eyed Peas also pandered to the crowd by chanting, “Bush, stop the bull----,” and by saying things like, “Is there anyone in Toronto who loves hiphop music?” and “Is there anyone here tonight who graduated this year, college or high school?”

It almost got to the point where you were expecting them to yell, “Kittens! Does Toronto love kittens?”

That said, the Black Eyed Peas are infectiously enthusiastic and fun. There was a very large contingent of young girls in the crowd last night, and undoubtedly the Black Eyed Peas gave them exactly what they came to see and hear.

The Black Eyed Peas insist their future is not sketchy, despite the fact Fergie, who joined the group in 2003, is set to release a solo CD called The Dutchess (purposely misspelled) on Sept. 19. The first single, London Bridge, hit No. 1 in the U.S. and crept into the top 20 in Canada.

The 31-year-old Fergie insists she can manage her musical ambitions both within and without the Black Eyed Peas. The other members of the group expressed support for their “sister” last night, but if she ends up leaving them behind, this will be a classic lesson in what can happen when you actually let Yoko into the band.

Speaking of a girl who could break up bands, 18-year-old Rihanna played a visually entertaining lead-in set. The Barbadian songstress sounded best on her quieter numbers like Unfaithful, but in her more upbeat songs the recorded loops, samples and background vocals almost completely drowned her out.

Vancouver rappers Swollen Members took the stage mere hours after playing the halftime show at the Argos-Hamilton Tiger-Cats CFL game at the Rogers Centre. Swollen Members’ new CD, Black Magic, comes out on Tuesday.