Walter and Terry Johanson say they won't stop trying to get Passport Canada to pay for the three-month passport delay that caused the couple and their son to miss their flight to Estonia in June 2007. (CBC)

Senior federal government bureaucrats have decided against giving a precedent-setting payout to a B.C. man who said his family trip was ruined by a passport delay.

In August, Passport Canada's CEO, Gerald Cossette, offered Walter Johanson partial reimbursement for the cost of the flights he and his family missed because of mistakes the passport office made last year. Later, he told him the money couldn't be paid out.

"It's like there's a department of stumbling blocks," said Johanson. "Imagine the government — or the people that we are paying — setting up roadblocks for us getting what is justly ours. That's not right."

Johanson and his family were among tens of thousands of British Columbians who said their travel plans were disrupted in the first few months of 2007, when passports became mandatory for air travel to the U.S.

The enactment of the new rules resulted in huge line-ups at passport offices and long delays in getting passport applications processed.

An Angus Reid survey in May 2007 found B.C. was hit harder than other provinces by the hold-ups. The survey estimated approximately 850,000 B.C. residents, or one in five, had their travel plans disrupted.

Missed flight was for 'trip of a lifetime,' says father

It was during February 2007 that Johanson, a Vancouver resident, found a fantastic deal on flights to his home country of Estonia. The ticket price was a one-time offer, so he decided to book on the spot.

Johanson and his wife, Terry, planned to take their developmentally delayed teenage son, Kristjan, on what Johanson called a 'trip of a lifetime' to see the country of his birth for the first time.

Kristjan Johanson had been excited about the family trip for weeks, his parents said. (CBC)

"We wanted to show him where he was born and what the people were like," said Terry Johanson.

But first, they decided to renew his passport. (Even though it technically didn't expire until after their trip, they wanted to avoid any potential hassles at the border for travelling too close to the passport's expiry date.)

Walter Johanson checked the Passport Canada website, which estimated passports would be processed within about 10 weeks. With more than three months until the family's June 19 flight, Johanson figured there should be no problem getting Kristjan's passport in time.

Johanson applied online and specified the date of departure in hopes of speeding up the process.

"[Kristjan] would be asking repeatedly 'Are we going? Are we going? Are we going to see this? Guess what we are going to do?'" said Johanson.

Eleven weeks went by, and the passport had not arrived. Johanson tried e-mailing and calling the passport office several times but said he couldn't get through on the phone and got nothing but form-letter replies by e-mail. He requested the help of Vancouver South MP Ujjal Dosanjh.

Passport didn't arrive when promised

The case log from Dosanjh's office shows Passport Canada assured the MP's office twice, in writing, that the passport would be delivered to the Johansons' home before their scheduled flight.

"We were going to leave in the afternoon," said Johanson. "We were promised a passport by noon. He [Kristjan] was standing by the window waiting for the postman to come. And the postman comes — nothing there. He runs after him, says, 'Is that all? Don't you have my passport?' and he said 'No.'"

There were huge lineups at passport offices and long delays in processing applications after passports became mandatory for air travel to the U.S. (CBC)

"Having to go through that with a child … and [having to] explain to a child that this is happening, there's no excuse for it," said Terry Johanson. "It's just ridiculous."

The Johansons eventually did get the passport and go on their vacation, but they said the necessary ticket changes and other expenses cost them approximately $5,000.

Walter Johanson filed a complaint with Passport Canada, and correspondence from the ombudsman's office shows it went all the way to the CEO, who agreed Johanson should be reimbursed.

However, the August 2008 letter Passport Canada sent the Johansons also said the payment needed approval from higher levels of government.

"The [executive services] branch sent a note to the CEO advising that if this case was to be settled, it would have to come from an ex gratia [voluntary and discretionary] payment requiring the intervention of the deputy minister [of foreign affairs and international trade]."

Johanson said that he was told during a conference call with the CEO and the ombudsman that they wanted to pay him but couldn't.

"They said 'You know, Mr. Johanson, this has gone to the top. The CEO recommends that you be compensated for this — and it's a serious case unlike all those other cases,'" said Johanson. "'But,' they said, 'the problem is the finance department will not pay it out because there is no legal precedent for it.'

"I can't take an offer that when the last piece of information you give me is that the finance department is not going to pay it out anyway. It makes no sense."

Passport Canada refuses comment

CBC News tried several times to get details from Passport Canada about the case and the general decision-making process involving claims. Spokesperson Jean-Sébastien Roy said he had to meet with lawyers and get political approval before discussing any information of that nature.

Roy did provide statistics showing seven Canadians were reimbursed for travel expenses incurred as a result of passport delays between 2004 and 2006. Since then, however, not a single claim has been paid out, including during the period in 2007 when thousands of Canadians were inconvenienced by passport delays resulting from the new U.S. rules.

That means Walter Johanson would have been the first to receive compensation for errors that occurred in that time.

Roy wrote in an e-mail, "I have sent you all the information I was allowed to share with you. Unfortunately, I can't give more information on this type of case."

The August 2008 letter from Passport Canada's ombudsman concluded that Johanson's claim was ultimately refused, "in order to promote uniform application with a view to treat all clients fairly and homogenously."

Johanson said he was led to believe Ottawa does not want to open the door to a flood of claims from other Canadians.

"Maybe they have a case as well, and they should go after the government," said Johanson. "It probably would cost a lot of money."

"It's expecting that people are going to get so tired of jumping through hoops they will give up in disgust," said his wife, "It's not right."

Johanson is now considering whether to take Passport Canada to court.

"I think we took all reasonable measures. If the passport office bungles it up … they should pay for it," he said. "There is a cost we incurred that they should pay for."

Since last year, Passport Canada has simplified the application process for residents of Canada who already hold a passport.

The agency could face another flood of passport applicants, though, in the weeks leading up to June 2009, when the U.S. will begin requiring passports for entry at all land and water crossings as well.