Province seeks to unshackle event ticket resellers

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This article was published 13/03/2023 (960 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Concert-goers and sports fans could see the cost of admission rise as the Manitoba government looks to alter legislation that prohibits mark-ups on ticket resales.

On Monday, the Progressive Conservatives introduced Bill 11. The proposed bill would repeal a section of the Amusements Act which addressed so-called ticket scalping.

The act prohibits people from selling, bartering or exchanging tickets for a price greater than what was initially paid.

The amendment is part of the Reducing Red Tape and Improving Services Act, which also proposes changes to allow the City of Winnipeg to allow planning notices to be sent electronically, and to give paramedics and emergency medical responders authority to direct traffic.

Consumer Protection Minister James Teitsma said the change will bring Manitoba in line with other Canadian jurisdictions and level the playing field for ticket resellers based in Manitoba.

“If a third-party reseller in another country is able to sell those tickets, then I want those Manitoba-based ones to be able to sell those same tickets,” he said.

Teitsma added out-of-province resellers have been marking up their prices and there is little the Manitoba government can do about it.

The government will be consulting the public and stakeholders on additional legislation and regulations to address price gouging and to offer better protections for ticket buyers, he said.

“Those laws only really can be enforced on Manitoba-based resellers, but those Manitoba-based resellers are not the ones that are processing the majority of (the) ticket reselling happening,” Teitsma said. “We want to make sure, that as much as possible, ticket reselling is happening in our province subject to consumer protection laws.”

Examples of ticket resellers that are subject to Manitoba’s laws include Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd. (which owns the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose and Canada Life Centre arena), the minister said.

The Jets host an online ticket exchange that forbids ticket-holders from reselling above face value. However, other online sellers were offering some Jets tickets Monday for an upcoming home game at more than $450 — almost double face value.

Asked what will prevent Manitoba ticket resellers from increasing prices to match those offered by out-of-province sellers, Teitsma said he hopes Manitobans will choose to buy tickets from retailers that are subject to local laws.

Opposition Leader Wab Kinew said the proposed bill will drive ticket prices skyward amid an affordability crisis.

“For the government to now make it more expensive for you to be able to use your hard-earned money to go see your favourite artist, to me that’s a mistake,” Kinew said.

On Monday, the government also introduced the following:

— Bill 31 (Animal Care Amendment Act). It would allow appeals under the act to be extended by the animal care appeal board, permits the board to dismiss a matter without a hearing in some circumstances, and proposes amendments to regarding notices of appeals;

— Bill 27 (Intimate Image Protection Amendment Act). Under the proposed legislation, intimate images that have been distributed are presumed to have been shared without consent of the subject. A person accused of distributing an intimate image in a civil court proceeding must provide proof of reasonable grounds to believe the person in the image consented to its distribution;

— Bill 26 (Limitations Amendment and Public Officers Amendment Act). Under the proposed legislation, a claimant would be permitted to file a claim with the courts within two years of discovery.

— with files from The Canadian Press

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca