Province tells N.S. business owners they applied for non-existent flood relief

The province has apologized to some small business owners in Bedford, N.S., who were affected by July's floods, after they applied to a relief program that was posted online in error.

The program called for applications from small businesses who could not operate due to the floods, saying they could be eligible for a one-time grant of $2,500.

"This whole time I thought somebody was working on it," said John Connors, the owner of East Coast Kicks, a sneaker store in Bedford Place Mall.

His store was inundated with up to 13 centimetres of water, leaving many high-end shoes damaged. With losses estimated at more than $150,000, Connors said he applied to the program in September.

He received a response on Monday — in the form of an email explaining the mistake — after CBC News contacted the province to check on the status of his and other applications.

"Kick us while we're down, kind of mentality, with this one," he said.

Minister of Economic Development Susan Corkum-Greek said Thursday her department was looking at the possibility of a potential program in response to the flooding while assessing the damage across the province.

"Clearly an error took place and the page remained active and we learned through questions from CBC that the page was there and in fact we discovered 11 businesses submitted applications and that reflects an error and a very unfortunate error," Corkum-Greek said.

Since the program in question wasn't up and running when the details were posted online, the department said there was no way to notify staff of any applications.

East Coast Kicks reopened on Nov. 4 after undergoing extensive renovations, including replacing the floor.

Connors remains in negotiations with his insurance company about how much of the renovations and damage will be covered.

'It seems slapdash'

Ken Halef, who owns Pro Tailors in the same mall, was also left wondering what had happened to his claim until he received a similar email this week.

"It just didn't seem very responsible of the government," said manager Lyndsay Ambler, "just to kind of turn around and say, 'Oh, that didn't exist anyway, so sorry.'"

The family-owned tailor shop and menswear store has operated for more than 40 years and has endured one of its most challenging periods with the pandemic and the flood.

Both businesses say the province should still pay out the $2,500.

"We really feel they should offer that because it was available. We did apply for it and you know, it's kind of their mistake so we feel they should honour it," Ambler said.

Kelly Regan, the Liberal MLA for Bedford Basin, supports the idea.

"We're concerned about the lack of attention to detail," Regan said, characterizing the province's response to flooding in Bedford as inadequate.

"It seems slapdash. It seems like the gang that couldn't shoot straight," Regan said. "It just seems like amateur hour."

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said honouring the payments would be a first step but said what happened warrants a deeper examination of the department. 

"This is a case of severe mismanagement of the government and I would hope this is the kind of thing the auditor general will look at when it comes time to looking at issues around that department," Chender said.

Province checking to see if businesses qualify for other support

Corkum-Greek said the province cannot pay the grant from the program in question since it was never funded.

"We could only make a payment based on a program that is funded and this particular program was not announced and it is not funded," she said.

However, Corkum-Greek said her department is in contact with the 11 affected businesses and is looking into whether they qualify for other financial support.

The final provincial support package announced on July 26, covered up to $200,000 in uninsurable losses for small businesses.

Connors said he wasn't eligible for that because his store has insurance.

"That $2,500 was in the back of my head the whole entire time."