Montreal man to be reunited with daughter

Text:

It's been a long and expensive fight but a Montreal father will finally be reunited with his daughter after a bitter cross-country custody battle.

However, it's been a bureaucratic nightmare -- the man had to sign over custody of his daughter to the B.C. government so that she can be transferred to Quebec, likely next week.

Only then can he bring her home and end the two-year ordeal.

"It's not a pleasant experience at all," he told CTV News in Vancouver, where he had travelled for the third time in the months-long bid to get his daughter.

"I thought she was coming home right away."

Vanished, then found

Araceli Bravo allegedly took the girl to Vancouver two years ago, prompting a court to award sole custody to the girl's father.

Then in April, the girl called 911 from a Vancouver train station. Police picked her up and gave her to child protection services.

That's where things got complicated.

B.C. would not simply hand over his daughter, saying there were legal and jurisdictional issues to be resolved.

Relief

The father says he has spent $20,000 on hotels, airfare and legal fees this spring in his bid to get his daughter back.

"Thank god I was in position to spend the money," he said.

"I had a lot of support from my family."

He thinks that she'll be relieved when she sees her old room.

"I haven't thrown out any of her toys, even her crayons," said the father.