Edmonton Papal Mass Electronic Tickets Cause For Seniors | Globalnews.ca

When more than 50,000 people disembark Commonwealth Stadium In Edmonton on July 26, they will be asked to present a ticket, as they do not when attending a concert or football game.

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Indigenous community groups that have distributed dozens of free tickets to seniors and residential school survivors are frustrated that electronic tickets are their only option.

“Seniors are getting very worried because they know we have tickets, but for some reason we’re not giving those tickets to them,” said Cheryl Whiskeyjack, executive director of the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society.

The organization has 50 tickets for the mass.

But WhiskeyJack said many of the customers they represent don’t have smartphones or even use email. Therefore, Bent Arrow cannot dispense tickets. Printing the tickets was not an available option.

“This is literally a group of senior citizens who, the way Ticketmaster is asking us to do, will be technically challenged to attend this event,” WhiskeyJack said.

“Though we got 50 tickets, some of the people we are talking to have hundreds of tickets,” she said.

WhiskeyJack initially said, barring some sort of resolution, she was going to have all 50 people – many she doesn’t know personally – meet outside a special gate at Commonwealth Stadium, so that all 50 tickets could be retrieved from her phone. can be scanned. Once.

“I hope they find me. I don’t know, I’ll wear a big sign or something on my head,” she joked.

Global News contacted Ticketmaster to ask about the issue. A spokesman said arrangements would be made to collect physical tickets from Will Call to Bent Arrows at the Commonwealth Stadium.

It was not immediately clear whether this exception might apply to any other group.

Global News asked what other groups could do to stop the electronic ticketing process but did not receive a response.

WhiskeyJack was happy that his group’s issues would be resolved, but he remained concerned about the other seniors.

“Hundreds if not thousands of seats have been affected by this issue,” he said.