From Davenport to Guanabo Cuba

April 17, 2006
From Davenport to Guanabo, Cuba
Frequent trips to Cuba have veteran MPP on the defensive
By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD

HAVANA -- Last week, as other government MPPs scrambled to explain the
massive hike in electricity costs to their constituents, Davenport MPP
Tony Ruprecht was holed up in a ramshackle house a few metres from the
beach in a seedy seaside town 30 km east of the Cuban capital.

Sun photographer Greg Henkenhaf and I tracked Ruprecht down to Guanabo,
a gritty town with no major tourist hotels.

Ruprecht, 63, is a frequent visitor to Cuba. Documents obtained by Sun
Media indicate he has been to Cuba on at least three other occasions
since the current legislative session started Oct. 11. His stays in Cuba
totalled at least seven weeks in that 6 1/2-month period.

The travel documents show he flew to Havana Oct. 30 last year, returning
Nov. 13. Other documents show he spent two weeks there from Jan. 29-Feb.
12 of this year, as well as March 6-March 20.

Reached in Cuba by telephone last week, it took Ruprecht many attempts
to recall how many times he had been to Cuba since the Legislature
started sitting. Eventually, he admitted he could have visited the
Communist Caribbean island as many as five times since October.

"We went through this already," he said.

"I am not denying that I may have been four times. I may have even been
five times," he said.

Ruprecht said he visits Cuba frequently to learn Spanish and Portuguese,
so he can better communicate with his constituents. He also said he was
visiting a friend who is in a coma.

'LEARN THE LANGUAGE'

"I will probably keep on going back until I am certain that I am able to
speak enough Spanish and Portuguese. That's the reason I am coming to
Cuba -- to learn the language and I will continue that.

"The reason I am doing that is because I want to make sure I communicate
well with my constituents."

(The CIA World Factbook lists Spanish as the only official language of
Cuba. Portuguese is not a native language of that country. When I told a
Cuban guide Ruprecht claimed one of the reasons he was there was to
learn Portuguese, the guide's response was: "You have got to be kidding.")

Ruprecht claims to have good attendance for recorded votes in the
legislature. While no official records are kept of who is in the House
on a particular day, it is possible to check attendance most days
through recorded votes.

SCHEDULED TRIPS

By my count, since Oct. 11, there have been 60 sessional dates. There
were no votes on eight of those dates. Ruprecht missed 11 recorded votes
during that time period. Ten of those 11 dates coincided with his
scheduled trips to Cuba.

Unlike most other government backbenchers, Ruprecht has no additional
responsibilities. He does not chair any committees, nor is he a
parliamentary assistant to a cabinet minister.

Aside from Greg Sorbara, who quit as finance minister last year, and
Gerard Kennedy, who resigned recently to run for the leadership of the
federal Liberal party, all other Liberal MPPs either chair committees,
have roles as whips, parliamentary assistants, caucus chair or as
Speaker. Ruprecht is not listed as being on any committees on the
official government of Ontario website.

In the interview, Ruprecht said he was aware of the massive electricity
price hike that took place while he was in Cuba last week. He said he
had a meeting on hydro in his riding shortly before he left and he
rejected the notion that he was neglecting his constituents by being absent.

"You know by now that I have been elected quite a few times, right. But
wouldn't it dawn on you that my constituents are fairly happy with the
way I handle them, with the way I produce my reports, with the way I
have public meetings?" he said.

"I am in my office every day, probably until 9 and 10 at night. I am at
my constituency office every Saturday, when I am in Toronto, from 9
until 12, making myself available," he said, adding that he has held
seven public meetings since October.

Ruprecht arrived in Havana 10 days ago and took the bus from Jose Marti
airport to Guanabo. Travel documents show he was scheduled to return to
Canada this coming Friday, but after I contacted him last week, he told
me he would be returning yesterday.

"Let me tell you something. When someone is in a coma, you don't know
what is going to happen. So I have got a plane ticket that's open and
you can come back any time you want. I can come back tomorrow," he told me.

In Guanabo, Ruprecht is known to neighbours as "Anthony." In three days
that Henkenhaf and I observed the comings and goings at the house where
Ruprecht stayed, we saw him emerge from it only once. He came out
briefly, walked a few metres to the corner and then jogged back. We
didn't see him go to the beach once.

We also observed a number of men who appeared to be tourists entering
and leaving the house. One of them came out for a short while to play
ball with boys on the street.

Like most houses in the hardscrabble town, the one where Ruprecht stayed
is surrounded by a high chain-link fence. The metal gate was locked
tight when I attempted to knock on the door.

BEACH DANGEROUS

The house is a stone's throw from the ocean, but the beach is so
dangerous that immediately after we arrived, Henkenhaf and I were warned
to watch for thieves. When Henkenhaf left my side for a few moments,
police approached and indicated to me that it was unsafe for me to sit
there alone. We saw only a handful of other non-Cuban tourists on the
beach. One evening, we witnessed a violent brawl on the sidewalk.

While in Cuba, I called Ruprecht from a cab in front of the house and
told him I was outside. His response was: "You must be kidding."

When I asked him to come outside the gate and talk to me, his response
was the same -- "You must be kidding" -- and the phone went dead.

Many of the grungy town's streets are flooded with stagnant water and
there are holes in the sidewalks big enough to swallow a small child.
Power outages are common.

Ruprecht says the premier's office is aware of his absence.

"I mentioned to my office that they should call the government caucus
office and tell them that because of the friend of mine in a coma, that
I will not be there that week," he told me.

He said his friend is an old lady named Maria Luisa.

A spokesman for Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday that Tony
Ruprecht continues to serve the constituents in Davenport well, as he
has done for the last 25 years.

http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/04/17/1537212-sun.html