Peter Nowak: Doug Ford shrugs as Fans get scammed

As other jurisdictions move in to crack down on ticket scalpers, some Canadians are left prey to bots and scammers

By: Peter Nowak

It’s been more than a month since the Blue Jays came within a hair of winning the World Series – and fan outrage over sky-high ticket resale prices prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to take notice. The team has so far done its best to ensure a return trip to baseball’s fall classic by acquiring a number of high-calibre players.

But Ford, who at the time said he would investigate action as fans were being gouged with tickets running into multiple thousands of dollars, is missing at the proverbial plate.

The inaction contrasts with the growing global trend toward banning or limiting the resale of tickets to sporting events and concerts at mark-ups over face value. While other jurisdictions are moving to address growing consumer anger over the situation, Ontario and much for the rest of Canada are continuing to let prices run wild.

Reached for comment, a Ford government spokesperson sent me the same statement given to The Globe and Mail in late October: “We are looking to understand the potential issues regarding ticket sales and if the scope of that issue can only be solved by legislation.”

Compare that response to other countries.

Australia’s state of Victoria, for example, drew praise last month from Oasis for making it illegal to advertise or sell tickets at more than 10 per cent over their original cost. The rock band’s management said the move was a “huge win for real fans” and called on Australia’s other states to enact similar rules.

U.K. officials went further, also last month, by announcing new laws that will prohibit any markup, as well as measures on extra ticket fees that attempt to undermine the limitations. Consumer advocates there are cheering the action as necessary to restore faith in a badly broken system.

“There’s significant consumer harm in the U.K.’s secondary ticketing market, which has become synonymous with inflated mark-ups, customer confusion and fraudulent listings,” says Camilla Eason, senior campaigns officer for advocacy group, Which?. Allowing resellers to run rampant “price[es] out genuine fans and undermin[es] consumer confidence in the live events sector.”

Quebec, meanwhile, tabled legislation earlier this month that will tighten existing rules by prohibiting tickets from being resold above face value unless explicitly authorized by the event’s producer. Maximum allowable resale prices will be disclosed to buyers before the initial purchase.

Resellers will also be required to disclose exact seats and the name of the last person who owned the ticket. Quebec’s Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette had sharp words for the sites like Ticketmaster and Stubhub, which enable resale at massive markups.

“Neither the Quebec entertainment industry nor Quebec artists see any of the profits made by resellers,” he said, according to CBC. “The companies behind these unfair practices are nothing more than parasites on Quebec culture.” Back in Ontario, Ford drew criticism in 2019 when he scrapped the previous Liberal government’s law that would have capped resale prices at 50 per cent above original face value.

On a recent episode of the Do Not Pass Go podcast, federal Liberal Member of Parliament for Beaches–East York and potential provincial leadership candidate Nate Erskine-Smith likened Ford’s anger over ticket prices to the hot dog sketch on Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave.

“It’s emblematic of the Ford government,” he said. “Doug, you literally did this.”
Rob Cerjanec, the Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament for Ajax, reintroduced his previous government’s legislation as a private members bill — Bill 63, the Stop Ripping Off Fans Act — on Oct. 27, while the World Series was happening. It was voted down by the government the next day.

“We should all be able to compete fairly to get tickets, you should be able to compete on a level playing field,” Cerjanec says. “If [the Conservatives] really felt that way, they had seven years to do something.”

Notably, the legislation moves in the U.K. and Quebec had broad support from big-name performers. In the U.K., a host of high-profile artists signed a letter supporting government intervention, with the list including Coldplay, Radiohead, Dua Lipa, The Cure and Iron Maiden, among others.

Quebec’s action received similar support from local artists and comedians, including Fred Pellerin, Louis-Jean Cormier, Corneille, Lise Dion, Marie Denise Pelletier, Marie-Annick Lépine, and Louis-José Houde.

The biggest names in Canadian music who are currently or recently touring, however, have been silent on the issue. Representatives for Rush, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morrissette, the Weeknd and Sarah McLachlan either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to do so. Representatives for the Blue Jays and Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argos and TFC, also did not return requests for comment.

Ticketmaster’s parent Live Nation is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit in the United States alleging that the company has monopolized the live event market through anti-competitive practices.

As part of its response to the lawsuit, Live Nation now says it’s going to crack down on bots despite the company benefiting significantly from the practice. Ticketmaster generates revenue on every ticket sale, whether original or resale, through a host of added fees.

“To be sure, it has gotten out of hand, especially since scalpers developed automated tools for creating Ticketmaster accounts” Live Nation wrote to U.S. lawmakers.

Given the level of abuse we are now seeing, we are no longer permitting this. It’s unfair to artists and fans and it is time to do something about it.”

Ticketmaster also settled a case over added fees with Canada’s Competition Bureau in 2019, paying a $4 million penalty. The Bureau said the company was creating confusion in the marketplace and advertising unattainable prices.

The Bureau is now in the midst of an investigation into so-called dynamic pricing; a method being used by a growing number of companies – notably Ticketmaster — to sell products and services at different prices based on a variety of factors ranging from demand to time of day.

The enforcement agency in June issued a public call for comments on how pricing algorithms are being used in Canada, their prevalence, where their data comes from, how they impact markets and consumers and what challenges they present for competition authorities. A spokesperson says a report will be published in early 2026.

But there’s reason to believe the live events industry is not exactly remorseful about past practices. Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino recently drew fire by saying that concert tickets are still “underpriced,” despite the growing controversy over dynamic pricing and bot-driven resale. Without jurisdictions taking meaningful steps to stop Ticketmaster and others from doing so, there’s little reason to expect ticket resellers to give up the revenues they’re generating from resale fees.

For Blue Jays fans, that means fresh outrage if the team does manage to make it back to the World Series.

Peter Nowak is the publisher of Do Not Pass Go, a newsletter and podcast focusing on competition and corporate concentration issues in Canada.