For months afterwards the familiar yellow letters hung blackened and blistered, a reminder of the pummeling that Toronto businesses took during the G20 weekend when vandals ran amok.

Steve’s Music Store on Queen St. W., was one of 371 shops from the downtown core that submitted compensation claims to the government for losses that occurred as a result of the world leaders summit.

In Steve’s case, around $80,000 for loss of business, broken windows, and the iconic sign that melted from the heat of a burning police cruiser lit by rioters nearby. Nine months later, those claims are beginning to come back.

Business owners gathered Friday to say the government’s offers don’t nearly match the damage.

Steve’s received compensation of just over $20,000, a quarter of what they asked.

“We’re going to have to sell a whole lot of guitars and drums,” said manager Kevin Parker.

Parker estimates that the cost of replacing the shop’s sign, still only half-done, and four broken windows cost $10,000 alone, not to mention the loss of business while police were telling everyone to avoid the downtown core.

The Toyota dealership at Front St. and Spadina Ave. submitted a claim for $146,000 after the G20. The government’s offer: $3,704.

“It cost us more to put the claim together,” says Ron Provost, the dealership’s director of operations, adding their chief financial officer put 100 hours into assembling documentation.

He says the police told him to shut down that weekend. But according to the compensation rules, businesses had to stay open to make a claim. The dealership even brought in extra staff in case protesters threatened shop, which is almost entirely glass.

Now, he wishes they had listened to police.

According to the document offering the Toyota dealership $3,704, if the company decides to accept it they must sign off on any future rights to ask for more money or to sue.

Provost says they plan on rejecting the sum and taking the claim to court.

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MP Olivia Chow says that if the conservative government had the ability to pay for the summit’s infamous fake lake, they should find the money to pay back the businesses in downtown Toronto that took a hit.

“There is a responsibility for the Harper Conservative government to compensate and compensate fairly,” she said.