Ontario says it is moving ahead with a plan to ban the resale of tickets for more than their original cost, effectively reinstating similar moves the Liberals had teed up before the Ford government cancelled them.
The province announced Friday that it is preparing legislative changes that would make it illegal to resell tickets for profit, a policy Premier Doug Ford mused about when the Toronto Blue Jays made their historic run to the World Series.
“With these new measures, consumers would no longer need to worry about being ripped-off in the ticket resale market, and more families and fans would have the opportunity to see their favourite band or sports team perform live,” Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford said in a statement.
The government said the change, which will be introduced when the legislature returns next week, would deal with “long-standing concerns” about inflated ticket prices.
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It would cover most major events, like sports, live music and other cultural events.
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The government said it had not yet settled on the penalties people who resell tickets above face value would be subject to. Once the law comes into effect, it will apply to all resales going forward.
The new policy comes years after the Progressive Conservatives killed a similar law tabled by the Liberals before the 2018 election.
A section in the previous Liberal government’s Ticket Sales Act would have imposed that cap, but the Progressive Conservatives paused implementing it shortly after they came to power.
A year later, in 2019, they cancelled the rule, saying it was unenforceable and that it would have driven consumers to buy tickets on the black market and drive costs higher.
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Unlike the Liberal measure — which set the cap at 50 per cent — the new measures would stop any above-cost resales for sports tickets.
Premier Ford appeared to reconsider his opposition to addressing ticket resales during the Blue Jays’ playoff run, when the price of tickets skyrocketed into the thousands.
“People shouldn’t be gouged, and that’s what’s happening right now, no matter if it’s the World Series or a concert comes in,” Ford said in October.
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The Ontario NDP welcomed the move, saying the government had taken too long to introduce it.
“Blue Jays fans had to pay ridiculous prices to see the World Series, and now FIFA World Cup attendees face the same reality,” NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam said in a statement.
“The Ford government must take meaningful action, and provide a solution that can’t be circumvented by ticket resellers. Ontarians deserve a government that will protect them from exploitative pricing.”
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