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Canadians Willing To Pay Scalpers To See Barack Obama

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Canadians are apparently desperate to see Barack Obama speak and are willing to pay top dollar to do so.

The former president is in Montreal late Tuesday afternoon to address the city’s board of trade. Obama will be speaking to 6,000 people who bought tickets ranging in price from $57 to $373. But some of those tickets are now on the resale market and are picking up fees in the $1,000 plus range.

Event planner Evenko originally offered the tickets for sale on May 13 and sold all of them before the end of the day. But in the last week before the event, people who missed out on their chance to see the polarizing ex-president have had a second chance to purchase tickets, with Kijiji selling seats from $180-$750 and Craigslist offering deals in the $275-$1,100 range.

After the tickets sold out, the Montreal Chamber of Commerce posted a warning on its website about people buying recycled tickets from “unofficial sources.”

Obama is scheduled to arrive at the Montreal Chamber of Commerce at 5 p.m. He has not sent his speaking notes to the event’s organizers and the board of trade has given him what they describe as “carte blanche” in terms of subject matter.

The Democrat visited Canada twice during his presidency. On his last trip to Ottawa, he addressed a joint session of Parliament and challenged Canada to spend more on its defense. Obama is a particular admirer of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and has described him as the “torch-bearer” for progressive politics.

Security promises to be tight in Montreal while Obama is in town.

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