Wynne Liberals abandon important consumer protections governing ticket sales: NDP Gates

In question period on Wednesday, Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for Niagara Falls, continued to press the Liberal government on abandoning full protections for consumers who purchase tickets to concerts and sporting events.

Scalper bots have caused heartache and cost for families since Kathleen Wynne opened up a loophole in provincial legislation to allow them. Since then, Wynne has claimed multiple times that she’s fixing the problem – but she keeps letting families down.

“One of the ways this government can protect fans is by revealing how many tickets actually go on sale to the public, and how many are just given away to VIPs or re-sold at higher prices,” said Gates. “Yet, last week we found out the Liberals removed that section of consumer protection from their own bill.”

Originally, provisions in the government’s Strengthening Protection for Ontario Consumers Act, Bill 166 included regulations on transparency for consumers regarding the number of tickets actually sold to the public for sporting events and concerts. The bill would have required ticket sellers to reveal the total number of tickets available to the public at least seven days before tickets go on sale. Gates said fans are disappointed that the Wynne Liberals backtracked on this commitment, leaving them with no way of knowing how many tickets they are competing for.

“We’ve heard numerous complaints that venues are holding back massive amounts of tickets, which means only a small fraction ever go on sale at face value,” said Gates. “That means when a parent saves up enough money to take their kids to a Jays game, they only have a small opportunity to buy tickets at a fair price.”

“Why are the Liberals back-tracking on this important issue of consumer protection, and letting down those people who just want to take their families to events?”