Ontarians are obsessed with the re-election of Doug Ford for reasons that continue to elude me; I guess they'll hold on to that dream of a bucket of beer forever. Since the provincial government has far more influence on our daily lives than many people realize, any questions about what this has to do with music should be laid to rest from the start – however, since Ticketmaster and Live Nation have just announced policy changes aimed at blocking ticket resellersNotorious arts patron Ford certainly chose a very opportune moment to change his stance on scalpers.
Back in April 2019, Ford's Conservative government scrapped legislation introduced by the previous Liberal government under Kathleen Wynne after it suspended implementation of that section of the Ticketing Act following the 2018 election that brought Ford to power. If that were to happen, ticket resale prices would be capped at 50 percent above face value, which we all know would be a game changer for concertgoers, especially given pandemic-era inflation rates.
“It was not feasible,” Government and Consumer Services Minister Bill Walker. said at that time. “It was like a lot of things with the Liberals. It was a good sound bite, but it didn't feel forced.” Many people, including NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, were quick to respond that the claim that the law is “unenforceable” is just a “cop-out.”
And what, you ask, led to Ford's change of heart? Sportsball, of course. At Queen's Park today, the Premier said his government was “exploring” possible legislation to cap ticket resale prices in response to the exorbitant sums being charged for viewing tickets. The Toronto Blue Jays will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the upcoming MLB World Series..
“My personal opinion… they're blowing people's minds,” Ford told the press. [via City News]. “I just don't believe in one company controlling everything, and that's what I think is happening with Ticketmaster right now. When there's one player in the market that controls the tickets, it's not right for people, so we're actually looking at that right now.”
Ford's comments reflect a widespread belief that since Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, the former parent company has become a monopoly in the live entertainment industry. US Department of Justice called for termination of merger last year. Live Nation called the antitrust lawsuit “meritless,” but it was also recently sued by the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly allowing brokers to buy packages of concert tickets only to sell them at inflated prices.
When the prime minister was asked whether what he said meant passage of the law, Ford repeated: “We're looking at that right now.” Did no one mention this section of the Ticketing Act, or did he simply not want to answer questions about it?
To be fair, at this point, 2019 does seem like it was ages ago. A lot has changed since then—and Ford has famously allowed those changes to influence his policies, such as his increasingly aggressive push to bring healthcare in Ontario closer to our neighbors south of the border by funding the expansion of private clinics offering for-profit care, rather than pouring taxpayer money into the crumbling public health care system that currently may boasting years-long waiting lists for surgeries, diagnostic imaging and specialty care. referrals.
He knows a thing or two about “ripping people off,” so if that's what he says Ticketmaster is doing, who are we to disagree?
