By LAURA PAYTON, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU,
Sun Media, Last Updated: July 28, 2010 3:03pm
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 Canadians 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.
