unlike ontario, quebec law won’t ban resellers from selling tickets above face value

a new law capping resale tickets at face value in ontario may have quebecers wondering if something similar is possible here — especially ahead of a summer packed with high-profile events in montreal. quebec does plan to address the issue of price gouging through a bill set to pass in the near future, but its approach is different. instead of tackling the price of tickets directly, bill 10 aims to increase transparency surrounding the resale market."ontario’s approach is more economic, whereas quebec’s is more transactional," said vincent de l'Étoile, partner at langlois avocats. "it addresses the same societal problem, but we have two different approaches to achieving the objective." ontario's law, passed in april, made it illegal to resell tickets to events for more than face value. quebec's bill 10, meanwhile, aims to strengthen existing ticket resale rules by requiring that resale platforms clearly identify themselves as secondary marketplaces and inform buyers that tickets may still be available at a lower price through the original seller "as soon as the consumer accesses the platform." the bill also increases disclosure requirements surrounding the original price and vendor of the ticket and the name of the last person who owned it."quebec’s regulation is more about governing the sale process and the disclosure of information," de l'Étoile said. a 2011 amendment to quebec’s consumer protection act already prohibited merchants from reselling tickets above face value without the authorization of the event’s producer, but sales between individuals operated in somewhat of a grey area.bill 10, then, "clarifies the application of quebec’s resale rules to these digital platforms and online intermediaries," said alexandre plourde, lawyer and analyst at consumer protection group option consommateurs. but "it does not, in itself, prohibit resale, even though, in practice, resale is often prohibited because the producer has not consented to it."plourde said some resale platforms still allow sales above face value without authorization. the group was part of a class-action lawsuit against billets.ca for that reason, alleging, also, that the platform misled consumers because it wasn't clear that it's a resale website. "many consumers believe they are on an official ticketing website when they access it," plourde said.event-goers around the world have long complained that tickets sell out within seconds of going on sale, only to reappear online immediately at a steep markup. when ontario's law passed, fans noticed face-value tickets reappearing on the market shortly thereafter. asked if quebec's regulation would make a noticeable difference, de l'Étoile said it could have "something of a chilling effect on buyers, when they see the markup they're paying for an event." "it may help regulate resale prices because it will become publicly known that certain market players are taking incredible profit margins," he said. he added that it's rare for legislators to intervene on pricing directly, other than in some sectors, like food."they tend to leave it to supply and demand," de l'Étoile said. "ontario chose to legislate in order to prevent bidding wars and excessive profit margins on products, which quebec, at least for the moment, has decided not to do."justice minister simon jolin-barrette, who authored bill 10, told cbc news that quebec stopped short of banning reselling above face value because it would push those sales to the black market — an opinion shared by critics of ontario's law."it drives sales from regulated platforms with security guarantees to unregulated platforms like facebook marketplace which are ripe for fraud," said david clement, north american affairs manager for the consumer choice center. clement said the solution would be more competition in the primary ticket market. as it stands, ticketmaster (owned by live nation) is the dominant seller in canada.plourde agreed that more players in the primary ticket market would ensure better competition. he added that option consommateurs wants quebec to create an economic analysis team within its office de la protection du consommateur to monitor markets and competition "particularly in areas like ticket sales, but also potentially gas and groceries and other sectors." "the idea would be to make better-informed economic recommendations to properly regulate these markets, which is not easy to do," plourde said. he doesn't think bill 10 will be the last time quebec legislates on ticket resales. "my sense is that we will likely need to intervene again to better regulate this market," plourde said. "perhaps the experience of the coming years will help us figure out how best to do so." kthomas@postmedia.com