Your theories are as valid as anyone else's, azguy -- I'm being entirely serious. The experts weigh in on the significance and motives behind Vito's trip:

Link:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Vito...1536/story.html

Excerpts:

Vito Rizzuto’s trip to Dominican Republic not to flee Charbonneau Commission, experts say
By Monique Muise and Michelle Lalonde, The Gazette
January 18, 2013

[snip]

While he may have simply been fleeing winter’s icy grip, there is also the possibility that Rizzuto, recently released from a U.S. prison, is trying to avoid testifying before the high-profile public inquiry, which resumes hearings on Monday morning.

The federal Department of Justice confirmed Thursday that Canada has no extradition treaty with the Dominican Republic, so if that is where Rizzuto is currently vacationing, authorities may not be able to force him back home to appear before Justice France Charbonneau.

Rumours have been swirling for weeks that the commission’s legal team has subpoenaed Rizzuto, once believed to be Canada’s most powerful Mafia don. The witness list has been a closely-guarded secret, however, and until Friday, officials had refused to confirm if Rizzuto is on it.

On Friday, commission spokesperson Richard Bourdon confirmed that Rizzuto has indeed been subpoenaed to appear, and the commission also released the names of the three witnesses expected to testify on Monday. Rizzuto is not among them and Bourdon said there is still no date set for Rizzuto’s testimony.

[snip]

More recently, one of Rizzuto’s associates, Raynald Desjardins, fought a subpoena sent to him from the Charbonneau Commission last fall. His attempts to have it retracted based on the fact that he is currently facing a murder charge were unsuccessful. Desjardins is expected to take the stand sometime in the next several weeks.

But some say it’s unlikely Rizzuto would stay abroad to evade the commission.

“My sources say he’s just gone down there for a week,” said André Cédilot, co-author of the book Mafia Inc.: The Long Bloody Reign of Canada’s Sicilian clan. “I guess the guy wants a bit of fresh air after being in prison all those years.”

[snip]

But Cédilot insists Rizzuto would not risk getting charged with contempt for evading a subpoena to appear before the commission.

“He is quite capable of testifying, as he has done two or three times before in different trials,” Cédilot said. “He is not a fool. His life is here in Montreal; his family is here, his business is here.”

Bloc Québécois MP Maria Mourani, who has written two books on street gangs and organized crime, said Rizzuto is likely either dealing with business interests in the Dominican, or taking a vacation, not evading Charbonneau.

“If he testifies, he is not obliged to say what he knows ... I have no information to say Vito Rizzuto would go to the Dominican Republic to evade Charbonneau. If he does that, it would mean he is retiring, that he is no longer willing to fight for his territory in Montreal, and I have seen no indication that he is ready to retire,” Mourani said.