Quebec wants to stop sky-high prices from ticket resellers. It won't be easy
CBC
Pat Coveney is a lifelong hockey fan, in particular a fan of the new PWHL team in Montreal.
"They're doing fabulous. I have not missed a game on TV," the 67-year-old retiree told CBC in a recent interview.
Coveney would love to see a game in person, especially since he lives in Verdun, just steps from the arena where the Montreal team plays some of its games.
So far that's proven a challenge. Coveney has tried to buy tickets online, but they sell out quickly. He's even walked down to the arena to see if he could get tickets in person, but no luck.
Coveney thought the upcoming game for the team Saturday at the Bell Centre might be his chance. But those tickets sold out within minutes, only to appear on resale sites at inflated prices the same day.
"The tickets have skyrocketed. They're $500 to $1,000 for one ticket," Coveney said.
Increasingly in Quebec, fans such as Coveney are feeling priced out of live events. The CAQ government has promised to tackle the complex problem, even though other provinces have tried and largely failed.
The Bell Centre PWHL game is just one example of recent, vastly inflated prices for resold tickets.
In March, music fans in Quebec city were angered after prices for passes for the popular Festival d'été de Québec were jacked up on resale sites just hours after they went on sale.
In February, tickets for the CF Montreal soccer game against Inter Miami featuring superstar Lionel Messi were selling for as much as $10,000 a piece on some resale sites.
And last December there was an incident that the CAQ government described as "the straw that broke the camel's back" after the death of Karl Tremblay, lead singer of the immensely popular group Les Cowboys Fringants.
Free tickets for a memorial for Tremblay at the Bell Centre were posted on resale sites for as much as $500 just hours after they were distributed.
That prompted the CAQ government to give MNA Kariane Bourassa a mandate to study the problem of inflated ticket resale prices and propose solutions.
Bourassa declined to comment for this story, saying she was still meeting with various groups to discuss the issue.
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