By LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau
OTTAWA - The Tories are warning Cuban officials their tourism could
suffer over a Canadian teen being held in the country after a car accident.
Cody LeCompte, 19, of Simcoe, Ont., has been in Cuba since the end of
April when he got into a car accident in a rental car. He hasn't been
allowed to leave the country while he's awaiting trial, though he isn't
in jail.
Peter Kent, minister of state for the Americas, announced Wednesday the
government has met with Cuba's representative in Ottawa.
The statement says they talked about Canadians being held in Cuba,
including LeCompte.
"Canadians have long appreciated Cuba as a tourist destination. The
delay faced by Canadians awaiting resolution of such cases could affect
fellow Canadians¹ choice of Cuba as a tourist destination in the
future," Kent said in the written statement.
"While aware that Cuban law allows for a period of lengthy
investigation, Canadian officials expressed their concern that the
investigation into this matter is taking so long." Under Cuban law,
LeCompte won't be charged until the investigation is over.
A department of foreign affairs travel warning says it can take five
months to a year for a traffic case to go to trial.
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