G20 protesters loot from a Yong Street store in Toronto on June 26, 2010.Ryan Enn Hughes For The Globe and Mail
The federal government expanded the business areas eligible for compensation after the G20 summit on Tuesday, but critics say the move isn't enough.
Businesses on Queen Street West, Bay Street and near Queen's Park, among others, can now apply for reimbursements for costs incurred over the weekend of the international summit, when 20,000 security officers and ranging protests of several thousand demonstrators made getting to and from the downtown core difficult.
But the clause exempting damage from vandalism still exists, and some are criticizing the expanded compensation area as only a weak first step.
"There are huge swaths that aren't covered," said Adam Vaughan, city councillor for the area, including businesses on Adelaide Street. "Those businesses, for the better part of a week and a half - nobody went near them."
Mr. Vaughan also took issue with the vandalism clause. "The broken windows aren't going to be paid for," he said. Black Bloc anarchists smashed windows of businesses and banks on the Saturday afternoon of the G20 weekend.
The deadline for application has also been moved to Nov. 17 from late September.