Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has left his team to figure out how to crack down on those profiting from resold baseball tickets but doesn’t have a solution to announce as the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run heads into Game 4.
As tickets to catch a moment of the Toronto Blue Jays’ post-season run sold for thousands, Ford had mused about reviving anti-scalping legislation his government killed shortly after it originally came to power.
On Tuesday, the premier insisted he was still looking at the idea, although he doesn’t have a timeline, suggesting it is likely not to come in until long after the Toronto Blue Jays versus Los Angeles Dodgers series has ended.
“We’re working on it right now because 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.
“I left it with our team to come up with a few solutions to make sure it’s fair for the average person to be able to go to a game because right now, what I’ve seen, especially the World Series, any big concerts coming to town, certain companies are gouging the people.”
Ford first suggested he was open to the idea last week; however, his government has since voted down opposition efforts to immediately introduce measures to protect fans.
“People deserve a break from the stressors of daily life and be able to go to a concert or a sports game without paying outrageous prices. Ford’s Conservatives chose to protect ticket scalpers and lobbyists instead,” Ontario Libreal MPP Tyler Watt said in a statement.
The idea was floated as Blue Jays fans took to social media to vent their frustration at post-season tickets costing thousands of dollars.
The anger over price resales is not new, with anger erupting last year during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which saw similar ticket prices and frustration.
Ford’s government previously scrapped part of a law that would have capped ticket resale prices at 50 per cent above the original face value.
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 the 2018 election.
A year later, in 2019, it 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.
Opposition parties have indicated they would support bringing the law back.
— With files from Global News’ Sean Previl