Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, announced Tuesday the B.C. government wants to “clamp down” on high-priced ticket scalping. Photo Dan Toulgoet
The B.C. government announced Tuesday that it wants to “clamp down” on high-priced ticket scalping to make going to a concert and other events “more affordable for British Columbians.”
"Live events should be an enjoyable experience for British Columbians, not a windfall for scalpers," said Mike Farnworth, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in a government news release. "The action we're taking is aimed at protecting people from unscrupulous scalpers and unfair practices that shut average people out from events in B.C."
Government will begin by conducting a three-week survey on residents’ experiences with ticket buying, reselling, and buying from resellers. That information will be used to develop recommendations for “improving affordability, fairness and transparency,” the government said.
The survey is aimed at people in B.C. who buy tickets for live events, and those who sometimes resell their tickets, to ensure that changes will improve fairness and transparency in how tickets for live events are bought and sold.
The public consultation will look to find out specifics on how people feel about parts of the ticket-buying process such as how often they purchase event tickets (from resellers, online, through a venue), experiences reselling tickets and what changes are needed to improve the fairness in buying and selling.
Once the survey concludes, ministry staff will use the results to develop recommendations for “improving fairness and transparency.” The survey results will be available to the public later in the spring. The survey is open to residents of British Columbia.
Alberta and Ontario have passed legislation and had public consultations on ticket-buying practices, and acted on this issue. A Canada-wide Angus Reid poll showed that four in five Canadians would agree with outright banning of software ("bots") to jump the queue when tickets go on sale.
The same poll showed that 50 per cent of Canadians believe it is up to governments to make the necessary changes to protect Canadians. Additionally, the poll said, most Canadians see ticket reselling as a significant problem, and 80 per cent believe purchasing tickets with the specific purpose of reselling them is unfair.
