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There’s a new law in Ontario that caps the price of resale tickets at face value. It was meant to address complaints that tickets to popular shows and sports were being scooped up by resellers asking for several times the original price.
Back in 2006, the problem with buying tickets was less about what they cost than the availability of the best seats. A CBC News reporter met a music fan who was resigned to no longer being able to secure front-row seats. At the time, concert-goers could buy tickets by lining up in person or, more recently, online auction.
“Some of the top summer tours, including Bon Jovi, Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have all agreed to auction off some of their best seats for concerts this year,” explained reporter Michelle Cheung.
Grounded
WATCH | The Snowbirds are deemed non-essential in 1999:
Snowbirds face funding cut in 1999
The aerobatic flying team could be grounded due to budget cuts, says a CBC reporter. Aired Sept. 7, 1999 on CBC’s The National.
Last week, Canada’s defence minister announced that his department is decommissioning the 1960s-era jets used by the Snowbirds demonstration squadron. According to CBC News, the 2026 season will be their last before they get new planes, and it could be the early 2030s before they’re back at air shows.
The squad has been endangered before. In 1999, a reporter for CBC’s The National said Canada’s armed forces had to identify what they deemed essential spending in the new millennium, and the Snowbirds didn’t make the cut.
The planes’ days seem to have been numbered for a long time. “Just days ago, the military celebrated 1.5 million flying hours for the Snowbirds aircraft, the Tutor, a training jet that’s to be phased out by 2002,” said reporter Eric Sorensen.
Team effort
WATCH | Women’s basketball in 1920s and ’30s Edmonton:
The Edmonton Grads basketball team
Shooting Stars, a CBC-TV movie about a women’s basketball team, tells the story of the Edmonton Grads. Aired June 19, 1988 on CBC’s The Journal.
After the Toronto Tempo recently began playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association, Richard Deitsch’s analysis for CBC Sports noted that the team “honoured great Canadian women’s basketball players of the past … for laying the foundations of women’s basketball in the country.”
He didn’t say whether the Edmonton Grads were mentioned as part of that legacy. In 1988, CBC-TV aired Shooting Stars, a docu-drama about the team and their coach. Current-affairs program The Journal gave viewers a sneak peek.
“They began as a team in 1914. By day, they worked as secretaries or clerks. By night, they packed areas and thrilled fans,” said host Paul Griffin. “The driving force behind their success was their coach and former teacher, Percy Page. In 25 years, he never missed a game.”
The right choice
WATCH | Preston Manning considers his options after becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1997:
Reformers debate whether Preston Manning should move into Stornoway in 1997
From his digs in an Ottawa hotel, the new leader of the Opposition in Canada is weighing a move into the taxpayer-funded residence. Aired June 19, 1997 on CBC’s The National.
Right-wing U.K. populist Nigel Farage finds inspiration in retired Canadian politician Preston Manning, John Paul Tasker of CBC News recently reported. Farage will never face Manning’s 1997 dilemma, though: the U.K. doesn’t pay to house its Opposition leader.
Until the end
Patrick Roy is seen high-fiving fans during the victory parade in Montreal after the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986. (The National/CBC Archives)
The Montreal Canadiens are edging closer to the Stanley Cup final, having made it into the third round of the 2026 NHL playoffs. The season was shorter 40 years ago: When the Habs won the championship in 1986, it was all over before the end of May.
Dust in the wind
High winds on May 11, 1984 significantly decreased visibility on a Manitoba highway. (CBC Archives)
A recent windstorm in Manitoba kicked up dust, made vehicles dirty and prompted the CBC team in Winnipeg to look into the archives for a similar precedent. They found it: a 1984 file from a reporter with the on-the-nose name Ted Weatherhead.
Get inline
WATCH | Goalie Manon Rhéaume in 1996:The woman who played goal for an NHL hockey team in 1992 takes on roller hockey in 1996. Aired June 27, 1996 on CBC’s The National.
Hockey’s Manon Rhéaume, who made history for the NHL in 1992, has been announced as general manager of the PWHL’s Detroit expansion team. In 1996, she traded her blades for wheels and played goal in a league called Roller Hockey International.
