Toronto restaurants affected by G20 summit wait for compensation

TORONTO, Ont. – Restaurants who lost business as a direct result of the chaos and closures during the G20 summit weekend in Toronto back in June are still waiting to be compensated by the federal government.

The Canadian Restaurant and Food Services Association appeared before a House of Commons committee Thursday, demanding action. The hearing began reviewing how the costs are being handled and how the expenses are being processed.

“We’re asking the committee to urge the government to process the claims that had been received in a fast and a fair way, and secondly, we’re asking them to expand the zone of the city that’s eligible for compensation,” said the association’s Justin Taylor, explaining that many of the establishments that were affected did not qualify under current rules.

The association said the impact of the G20 summit on restaurants was sudden and severe.

“There were chairs thrown through windows. How are they expected to stay open if the safety of their staff and restaurant customers is at risk?” Taylor told 680News.

“A large number of restaurants closed for a period of time during the summit because it just simply wasn’t safe to stay open, and we’re demanding compensation for those restaurants as well.”

The association said the process of applying for the funds is time consuming and complicated.

“Hopefully we’ll hear something from this committee calling for the government to change the guidelines so that more restaurants are eligible for compensation, but at this point we don’t have any guarantee that anything will happen in any direction.”