Ford takes the side of scalper-bots

Ford decides ticket resellers can continue to rip off families indefinitely

QUEEN’S PARK – On July 1, a new law was to cap the price scalpers and their scalper-bots could charge for tickets at 50 per cent more than the ticket’s face value, but Doug Ford has quietly put an indefinite delay in place so resellers can continue to scoop up swaths of tickets and gouge families on their resale.

“Doug Ford has taken the side of scalper-bots, helping them to rip off and gouge Ontario families without an end in sight,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. “That’s just wrong.

“I don’t know who Mr. Ford is working for with this change. But I know who I’m working for: everyday families who want the opportunity to go to a baseball game as a family this summer, or take their daughter to her first concert. It’s families that want life in Ontario to get more affordable, not more expensive.”

The Liberals opened the door for scalper-bots in Ontario, which scoop up tickets to concerts and games for online ticket re-sale companies to sell at a massive markup. Under the new law that was supposed to come into force on July 1, scalper-bots can still swipe tickets out from under real people, but the markup scalpers can charge on those tickets is capped at 50 per cent over the face value of the ticket.

But after taking office, Ford secretly cancelled the July 1 date, delaying indefinitely.

“Instead of making Ontario more affordable for everyday families, Mr. Ford’s move to make Ontario’s events more expensive is a step backward,” said Horwath.