Ottawa will not reimburse property owners for broken windows or other protest-related damage during the G20 summit, says Councillor Adam Vaughan.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable,” Vaughan told reporters Thursday. “They’re bringing this party to town. They know what accompanies this sort of event. For them to walk away from small businesses … is an absolute disgrace.”

Property owners in the downtown Entertainment District already have trouble obtaining insurance coverage due to the presence of revellers, he said.

The city asked Ottawa to post a bond to cover damage claims, but the federal government has said no to compensation, he said.

People suffering damage should look to their insurer, according to a memo from the federal government’s Summits Management Office.

“If there are losses or damages caused by third parties, including vandalism, payment will not be provided for such losses or damages under this program,” said Effie Triantafilopoulos, the office’s deputy director.

“These types of damages are insurable under normal insurance coverage,” Triantafilopoulos said.

But some property owners can’t get insurance to replace broken windows, Vaughan said.

“In the Entertainment District, you can’t even get insurance for plate-glass windows because of the behaviour of some of the club kids. Plate-glass windows are expensive and it leads to the issue of what happens if there’s looting afterwards.

“These people are now in a more vulnerable position.”

The city thought it had an understanding with Ottawa on the issue, Vaughan said.

“They said they would pick up all of the costs. Well, this is one of the costs. Now they’re saying under the formula, under the agreements, this is not one of the costs. Well, you show me a G20 or G8 summit that hasn’t had broken windows.”

On Thursday, Mayor David Miller, attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting, said costs for the event are Ottawa’s problem.

“Our agreement with Ottawa is that the G20 is entirely at their cost. There are no additional costs to the City of Toronto . . . It is up to them what they deem to be a cost, but we are not on the hook for the cost of this event. It’s all Ottawa’s cost. Property damage is between individual properties and Ottawa.”

It could cost $2,000 to replace one of the large wall-to-ceiling windows at Spring Rolls, a restaurant on Queen St. W., said part-owner Christine Lam.

“It’s not fair,” Lam said. “They have to be responsible for it. We don’t make that much money to replace a big window glass like that.”

The federal government is telling people to make insurance claims, but that’s not a good option, Lam said.

“If we claim insurance, definitely our insurance would increase too, right? So we don’t want to claim it.”

Eko, a Queen St. W. jewelry store, has large windows and marble cladding on the outside that would be “really, really expensive to replace,” said manager Cassandra Zeppieri.

“For us, if something happened due to the summit, it would be just ridiculous,” Zeppieri said.

“It’s definitely not fair. If you’re having everybody here and deciding to have it here, you should cover the costs of the situation.”

BMV Books, which just opened on Queen W. about six weeks ago, was advised by the local business association to check its insurance coverage, said manager Grace Murphy. “I don’t think it’s fair. If they’re protesting, why should we have to pay?”

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Murphy wonders why so many people come out to protest at these summit meetings.

“The world leaders have to get together somewhere,” she said. “At least they’re talking. That’s a good thing.

With files from David Rider

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