A Pierrefonds business owner said he is being pushed deeper and deeper into debt by the bureaucracy after the spring floods – and it could ruin him financially.

Michael Gad, owner of Tekka Grill in Pierrefonds, estimates the Mediterranean restaurant sustained about $150,000 worth of damages in April.

Gad said he was in for a surprise when he sought compensation.

“In the middle of July, I received a letter from the government telling me that my file is not accepted for any compensation as an insurable risk, which is a sewer back-up,” he said.

Inspectors ruled that the damage – three feet of water in the restaurant -- was caused by a sewer back-up, and not the floods.

Gad can’t believe it.

“For sure it was flooding. (There was) more than two feet inside the shopping centre,” a strip mall at the corner of St. John’s and Pierrefonds Blvds.

When the government announced its compensation package last spring, it made it clear that floods caused by sewer back-up would not be covered and that the people affected would be forced to rely on private insurance.

Gad’s insurance for sewer back-up is limited to $50,000.

“Just the equipment is $125,000,” he said.

Gad can’t afford to pay the difference.

Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Jim Beis said he's trying to convince the government to make room for exceptions like this.

“I’ve contacted the minister's office and I've dealt individually with cases that are problematic at the residential level and I’ll do the same for the business sector as well,” he said.

Gad, meantime, has been without a source of income since the floods and said unless he receives help, he expects to lose his home and business.