Toronto, ON - June 27, 2009: Abousfian Abdelrazik at Pearson International Airport, in Toronto, Saturday, June 27th, 2009. Abdelrazik was in exile in Sudan for almost six years. (Ian Willms/Toronto Star)

Ottawa has spent more than $2 million in the last year to fight a lawsuit from a Canadian man who says Canadian authorities were complicit in his arrest and alleged subsequent torture in Sudan.

According to recently-tabled documents in Parliament, taxpayers are on the hook for $2,025,946.31 since June 2018 so Ottawa can litigate in the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik.

The Sudanese-Canadian man is suing the federal government for $27 million, claiming CSIS officials were complicit in his 2003 arrest in Sudan, where he spent six years in detention or forced exile and alleges he had been tortured by the country’s intelligence officials.

The figure may be a fraction of what has been spent in total on fighting the lawsuit, which was launched in September 2009 and faced years of wrangling over evidence.

The long-standing and complex case was pushed back further in September 2018, when a Federal Court judge agreed with a plea from federal lawyers to indefinitely delay hearings on the case.

BACKGROUND: Judge agrees to delay hearing Abdelrazik lawsuit due to federal plea

The decision to adjourn was done to make time for a review of evidence given the passage of time. Federal lawyers had argued that heavily-redacted documents given to Abdelrazik’s lawyers previously should be given another look to ensure the most complete record possible is available for the trial.

Last year, the Canadian government also withdrew from agreed mediation talks on a settlement, without explanation, one day before they were scheduled to begin.

Abdelrazik, who is a Canadian citizen, said CSIS officials had been dispatched to interview him in jail and had sent questions to his Sudanese jailers.

The government has since acknowledged CSIS officials questioned him while he was in jail, but denies any knowledge of abuse. The Canadian government had suspected he had terrorist connections in the early 2000s.

He was arrested during a family visit to Sudan in 2003 and held in custody for much of six years. He had also lived in Canada’s embassy in Khartoum for a year after he was released by Sudanese authorities, but denied a Canadian passport based on national security concerns.

After the Federal Court ruled his Charter right to enter Canada had been violated and that he should be given a passport, he returned in June 2009.

Paul Champ, Abdelrazik’s lawyer, said the figure shows the level of resources Ottawa is willing to throw at the case.

“It’s real sad commentary when the government of Canada is willing to fight so hard against someone who is indisputably a victim of torture,” he said.

Champ said he anticipates the total amount Ottawa has spent on the Abdelrazik file over 10 years to be somewhere around $10 million to $20 million.

He added that there is no timetable for when hearings will resume and that reviewing documents already presented years ago is effectively a “delay tactic” by the government.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government is “committed to a fair justice system that protects national security and holds offenders to account.”

“Because of the complexity of national security cases, considerable legal work is sometimes required,” said spokesperson Scott Bardsley. “However, we cannot comment on matters before the courts.”

Bardsley also noted that the Liberal government has strengthened accountability of Canada’s national security agencies through actions such as the creation of a committee of parliamentarians to review its practices.

The tabled document does not detail exactly what the money was used for, citing solicitor-client privilege, but does say that no external legal costs were incurred. The amount was found in a government response to an order paper question from NDP MP Murray Rankin.

READ MORE: Feds move to shield identities of spies set to testify in Abdelrazik case

The Federal Court was to hold 10 weeks worth of hearings before Justice Martine St-Louis agreed to the late request from federal lawyers to postpone the trial. Abdelrazik had told the Toronto Star then he believes the federal government was “continuing to play a game with me” by trying to delay the hearings.

Champ said the fact Ottawa is fighting the case has had a damaging effect on Abdelrazik, who also faces the scars of his experience in Sudan.

“I think a lesser person would have been destroyed long ago,” he said.

Clarification: A sentence regarding the Canadian government refusing mediation talks has since been revised to reflect that they had agreed to scheduled negotiations but that Ottawa had withdrew before they were to begin.