Federal candidates small consolation to desperate dad

There were no easy answers offered to Antonio Insogna, the St. Lazare resident and father of a mentally handicapped young man who is stuck in the Philippines with his new-formed family, when he went to speak to the five federal elections candidates in Vaudreuil-Soulanges last night after their public debate at Cité des Jeunes high school in Vaudreuil-Dorion.

"I understand your pain," Conservative hopeful Michael Fortier told him as he patted him on the back and walked away.

According to Insogna, he has tried approaching Fortier twice in the past about his son's predicament, once before the elections campaign kicked off in mid-September, but it has been to no avail.

However, when The Chronicle put the question to Fortier a week prior after another public debate in Hudson, the latter said he did not recall ever hearing of Insogna's problem before.

Insogna's son, Vittorio, 37, got secretly engaged to a Filipina woman, Arlene, whom the Insognas were set to hire as a housemaid in 2007, according to Antonio Insogna. Later, he flew to San Pedro to marry Arlene.

"We got called by them to San Pedro," Insogna explained, and the couple professed their love for each other. One civil union presided by the mayor of the town later, they were married and ready to move back to Canada.

However, a VISA immigration officer at the Canadian embassy in Manila refused to let Arlene through, claiming this was a marriage of convenience to allow her to move to Canada, Insogna explained.

He has unsuccessfully lobbied to have his son and wife return home since, while the latter now have had a baby boy, as well.

Yesterday night, Insogna also tried to approach other party candidates to explain his problem to them. Bloc Québecois incumbent Meili Faille, who has met with him in the past, offered sympathetic words between moments of speaking to different voters.

"We did our utmost possible," she told a supporter while explaining Insogna's story, recalling how she had sat down with him to write letters to Immigration Canada. "I won't let you down," she told him, promising still to help out again.

Liberal Party candidate Brigitte Legault heard Insogna's story for the first time yesterday. "I have a guy who comes to my office just like you," she told him outside the auditorium where the debate took place, moments after it ended. She added she could help him out if he gave her his support on October 14.

"I called the Liberal Party," Insogna told her. "No one called me back."

Immigration Canada officials will not comment on Insogna's case, as the visa immigration officer's decision is being appealed by the latter this November.