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From the Editor

The painting

by Judi McLeod

July 6, 2004

It was a long time ago when Lord Byron opined, "Tis strange but true; for truth is always strange; stranger than fiction."

Who can ever explain coincidence?

Someone close to me, who came to this country 15 years ago from Latin america, is in big trouble with Canada Immigration.

To me, his lifes story is a sad one. an artist at heart, he had been struggling along as a small business man in Bogota when he came to hear about a joint Colombia-Canada government program, aim of which was to promote the work of Colombian artists and craftsmen. Their work would be on exhibit during a two-week show at Torontos Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds, and according to the spokesman of the Colombian government agency, would be bound to sell in a Canadian market.

For privacys sake, well call the Colombian artist, Pedro. Buoyed by the prospect of earning enough money to prop up his flagging business, Pedro filled out the necessary papers that would allow him to participate in the upcoming art show. For four months, he worked off-hours to prepare paintings for the show. Financing the trip by having his 69-year-old mother mortgage her condominium for about $6,000 (american), he was ready.

Upon his arrival in Toronto, Customs and Excise confiscated his paintings and kept them for more than a week. about 20 Colombian artists arrived for the art exhibition, but only Pedros paintings had been seized.

after a week, the government agency in charge of the exhibition managed to have the paintings released. They were stored overnight in a garage close to CNE grounds. When Pedro went to get them the following morning, more than half the paintings were missing. With only a few days left in the art show, Pedro, more artist than salesman, found no buyers.

Worried that his mother would lose her Colombian condominium, Pedro panicked and went underground, where he was to remain for some 15 years.

In the beginning, he tried to sell the paintings that were left. Speaking no English and in a race against time, he let them go for much less than they were really worth. Finding work in the construction trade, he eked out a living, eventually paid off his mothers mortgage, but always had to look over his shoulder.

For one and a half decades, he never picked up an artists brush or set up an easel, though his continued interest in the work of other artists gave him away.

Pedro sometimes pondered the plight of the missing paintings, but was too busy surviving to think long about it.

Then the inevitable happened. Last month, caught driving home from work without a drivers license, the police turned him over to Immigration, who had a long-standing deportation order waiting for him.

Pedro, only in his late-30s when he came to Canada, is now a grandfather of 50. Not wanting to return to a country where people returning after long lapses away are often kidnapped in the mistaken belief that they are rich, he decided to do what he really should have done 15 years ago.

as things turned out, filling out the paperwork for Immigrations Pre-risk assessment, meant he had to be examined by a doctor.

Of the dozens of doctors serving Immigration clientele downloaded from the Internet, Pedro randomly chose one with offices on nearby College Street. as he nervously waited for the doctor to see him, he noticed a familiar painting on the wall of the receptionists office.

Because some of the necessary paperwork was missing, a second visit to the doctors office was required.

On the second trip, he knew it was his work before even looking at the paintings back to see his signature.

Unfortunately, the doctor could not remember how he had come to acquire the painting, because it had been acquired too many years ago.

at this stage, it is unknown whether Pedro will be allowed to stay in Canada or be deported back to the country where his misadventure began.

But it is a sure thing for the few people who care about his destiny, that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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