Byward Market buskers must pay to play in 2010
Last Updated: Thursday, August 13, 2009 | 10:45 AM ET
CBC News
Madeleine and Ella Hopwood of Victoria, B.C., say the permit fees may be too high to allow them to perform in Ottawa. (CBC)Musicians and other performers must pay $100 a season or $10 a day for the privilege of performing for tourists and shoppers in Ottawa's Byward Market starting next year.
That will be the new cost for a permit required by the City of Ottawa under a bylaw passed in December 2008.
The permit will allow performers to spend up to six hours a day performing in the market, rotating to a different location each hour. The goal is to help balance the use of the market with the amount of available space and make things fairer for everyone, said city spokesman Paolo Copelli.
'It's a real chancy thing, so I don't think it would be worth it.'— Madeleine Hopwood, Victoria performer
"Some locations are viewed as more prime than other locations — more traffic, more visitors, more tourists," he said. "So it gives them a chance to each have the same equal opportunities."
He added that the city is starting to issue permits this year, but they will be free until next year. However, in 2010, performers caught breaking the rules will have their permits revoked.
From her music stand in the market Wednesday, fiddler Cheryl Fitzpatrick said she thinks the rules are fair.
"It will regulate the musicianship," she said. "Also, give other people a chance so that somebody doesn't monopolize a corner all day."
Flutist Thomas Brawn said buskers respect each other's space and already do a good job of regulating themselves. (CBC)But flutist Thomas Brawn said buskers respect each other's space and already do a good job of regulating themselves.
"Some bureaucrat's idea of controlling something is to put a fee on it," he said. "I've been improving their market for 30 years. They should be paying me."
Sisters Madeleine and Ella Hopwood serenaded passers-by with the harmonies of their flute and cello. They come from Victoria, B.C., each year to play in Ottawa, where their father lives, during the summer.
"It's basically our summer job," Madeleine Hopwood said.
The permit fee might be out of their budget and could stop them from playing in the market next year, she added, as they take in quite a bit of money some weekends, but don't do well on others.
"It's a real chancy thing, so I don't think it would be worth it."
Her sister said a similar permit in Victoria costs only $10 for the whole summer.
