Desperate St. Lazare father feels helpless

While Conservative supporters enthusiastically awaited the arrival of Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Ile Perrôt Community Centre last Friday afternoon, one man quietly stood in a corner of the large room, unconcerned by the hustle and bustle around him.

St. Lazare resident Antonio Insogna was there for an entirely different reason, hoping for a moment aside with the Prime Minister, or at least one of his aides, to ask him what they could do to help him get his son, Vittorio, 37, and the latter's at-the-time pregnant wife out of the Philippines and into Canada.

"They pointed me to the (…) security at the front," Insogna later told The Chronicle. "You say one word, they'll throw you out," he added Harper's aides had told him.

However, he admitted one security guard wound up accepting a document from him about his son's plight and promised to present it to the PM.

According to Insogna, his son Vittorio suffers from a mild intellectual handicap. Though physically healthy, he cannot fend for himself on his own. The troubled tale began last year when Vittorio, to everyone's surprise, fell in love with a Filipina servant his parents were looking to hire to take care of their home.

"They were talking to each other on the Internet," Insogna explained, and this occurred even before the woman in question, Arlene, had moved to Canada.

Without telling his parents, Vittorio got secretly engaged to Arlene, and only announced it to the parents later, moving to the Philippines to be with his fiancée.

"We got called by them to San Pedro," Insogna explained.

Instead of immediately joining his son there, Insogna first went to the Canadian embassy in Manila, the country's capital, he said, and inquired about the possibility of having Arlene move to Canada back with her fiancé. He was told to get them married as soon as possible. "By the end of the summer, they would be in Canada," he said embassy officials told him.

The marriage occurred in San Pedro as a civil union, with the mayor of the town presiding, Insogna explained, but what happened next was anything but smooth.

Arlene's immigration visa was rejected on the grounds her union with Vittorio seemed to be a marriage of convenience, Insogna said. Furthermore, the immigration visa officer even told him that, due to his son's condition, the couple was "incompatible," he said.

"What does she know? She's a visa officer, not a marriage councillor," he said.

Since the rejection of the papers, Insogna has toiled to have the decision reversed with the help of his lawyers. Whereas a court date was originally supposed to be set last July, it was delayed until this coming November. "It's been said there wasn't enough time to meet all witnesses," Insogna said.

Meanwhile, Insogna has tried to go get help from all main federal political parties. He said the Liberal Party never got back to him, and so far the Conservatives have not been helpful either.

"We wrote to the Minister of Immigration (together)," said Vaudreuil-Soulanges Bloc Québecois MP Meili Faille.

As a former civil servant at Immigration Canada, Faille told The Chronicle she had sat down with Insogna and explained the procedures involved in getting Vittorio, Arlene and their now new-born son back to Canada.

When Insogna told her he was going to try to go to then-Minister of Public Works and Government Services Michael Fortier, who had already announced his intention to run in Vaudreuil-Soulanges as a Conservative candidate, Faille said she encouraged him to do so.

However, Insogna did not receive any help, he said.

Last Friday, Insogna presented another package of documents to one of Fortier's aides, he said.

A phone call to the Conservative Party of Canada headquarters placed by The Chronicle resulted in a promise that the package Harper's aide accepted on Friday would indeed be delivered to the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Immigration Canada claimed it is difficult to comment on the case, since it is going to trial in November. "We don't want to say anything that could jeopardize his son's chances," spokesperson Jacqueline Roby said.

Michael Fortier's office did not return telephone calls as of press time.

courtesy photo