Open this photo in gallery Shirley Hewitt, mother of Shawn Edmonds who died in Costa Rica in 2017, holds a photo of her son at her home in Kitchener, Ont. Annie Burns-Pieper/The Globe and Mail/The Globe and Mail

Global Affairs Canada has faced billions of dollars worth of legal claims since 2011 over its consular assistance to Canadians abroad, federal government documents reveal.

Many of these lawsuits stem from citizens who faced allegations of terrorism or allege they were wrongfully imprisoned and, in some cases, tortured in foreign countries. Some allege Canadian government officials didn’t do enough to help them. And some allege the actions of consular staff contributed to their detainment and injuries suffered overseas.

How much these multiple claims ultimately cost the government is unknown. Global Affairs will not divulge that information, saying the settlements are confidential.

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The potential legal liability from the claims reached a high of $2.36-billion in 2013-14, according to seven years of data from the Department of Justice obtained by The Globe and Mail through access-to-information legislation. That liability figure dropped to $223-million in the 2017-18 fiscal year.

By then, several prominent claims had been settled, including that of Omar Khadr, who had been imprisoned in a U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, accused of killing an American soldier during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. Mr. Khadr, who was born in Canada, was 15 at the time.

The federal Liberal government apologized “for any role Canadian officials may have played in relation to his ordeal abroad and any resulting harm,” part of a settlement of a civil suit in 2017. The cost of that payout – $10.5-million – was leaked to the press.

Among the high-profile cases still outstanding is that of Régent Boily, who was extradited to Mexico by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper in 2007; he had been convicted of smuggling 580 kilograms of marijuana. Mr. Boily spent 10 years imprisoned in Mexico, where he alleges he was tortured. He was returned to Quebec in 2017 and is suing the Canadian government for $6-million, alleging he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2011, the UN Committee Against Torture concluded the Canadian government had violated its international convention against torture by extraditing Mr. Boily to Mexico.

Another case still before the legal system is that of Henk Tepper, a New Brunswick potato farmer who was jailed for more than a year in Lebanon over allegations he tried to export diseased potatoes to Algeria. He launched a lawsuit in 2013 that seeks $16.5-million in damages.

Some former consular officials at Global Affairs contend the Canadian government would face fewer lawsuits over its assistance to Canadians abroad if it had a formal and robust system for investigating complaints. Unlike in countries such as Britain and Australia, there is no formal process in Canada for filing complaints about consular assistance, leaving Canadians who are unhappy with the help they received with few options for recourse other than the justice system.

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“The fact that there are so many of these court cases should make it abundantly apparent that the informal [complaints] arrangement that is in place now sure isn’t working,” said Michael Welsh, a former Canadian ambassador and a former director-general of Canada’s Consular Affairs Bureau.

The Globe spent a year investigating the government’s system for helping Canadians in need of government assistance abroad. The probe, made possible through a Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Reporting, revealed some fundamental problems, including unclear standards, failures to meet what few measurable standards there are and unequal treatment of consular cases.

Canadians have no legislated right to consular assistance, so the government has discretion in the services it provides. As a result, critics argue assistance favours those with easy problems or access to power.

The country’s privacy laws prevent the release of detailed information about individual consular cases, even to family members, making it nearly impossible to judge how effectively Global Affairs is aiding Canadians. If Canadians want to complain about consular assistance, Global Affairs directs them to a feedback form. However the form online is anonymous and explicitly states that submissions will not receive a reply.

Global Affairs spokeswoman Barbara Harvey noted the department can also receive complaints through correspondence addressed to the minister, the foreign mission or consular headquarters in Ottawa.

“Depending on the nature of the complaint, relevant Global Affairs Canada divisions will be involved and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that the complaint is properly addressed,” Ms. Harvey said.

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For families dealing with consular staff, lack of action can be a sore point.

That has been Shirley Hewitt’s experience. In October, 2017, her son, Shawn Edmonds, 42, died at a resort in Costa Rica. The death was deemed accidental, but Ms. Hewitt feels foul play was involved and has been searching for answers for more than two years.

She said she has complained frequently to her contacts at Global Affairs about the poor assistance she feels she has received. But, she said, those complaints have not been heard: “They have been ignoring me since day one,” Ms. Hewitt said.

Legal action, meanwhile, is not accessible to all. Ms. Hewitt, a maintenance worker for a home renovation and landscape company in Kitchener, Ont., said she cannot afford to hire a lawyer to help her advocate for greater action from the Canadian government. “If I was a millionaire, money would be no object,” she said.

Paul Champ, an Ottawa lawyer who has represented Canadians detained and allegedly tortured abroad in lawsuits against the federal government, said legal challenges can often spur greater consular aid. But, he argues, legal action shouldn’t be necessary in many cases.

“Ultimately, people shouldn’t have to retain a lawyer and it shouldn’t be such a struggle to get the help that they need – and, frankly, in my view, deserve – when they are really at risk abroad,” he said.

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In the testimony used by the standing committee on foreign affairs to compile its 2018 report on consular services, several witnesses said they believed oversight of the government’s consular program was insufficient. Gar Pardy, a former director-general of the Consular Affairs Bureau, argued for an independent mechanism to look into complaints.

“As matters now stand, short of the judicial system, there is no independent arbitrator available to investigate charges of governmental incompetence, inept actions or unjust policies in relation to consular affairs,” he told the committee.

The report recommended that the government look into expanding the role of Global Affairs’ Office of the Inspector-General, who is responsible for managing disclosures of wrongdoing, investigating losses of public funds and inspecting overseas offices, among other duties.

The Globe asked Global Affairs what has been done about this recommendation. Ms. Harvey said the department has welcomed the recommendations, but she provided no information about how an oversight role might be incorporated into the department.

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