CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Sun. Feb. 14 2010 8:38 PM ET
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced he will travel to Haiti on Monday, in one of the first visits by a head of state to the Caribbean country since a powerful earthquake killed more than 200,000 people there a month ago.
Harper is expected to land in Port-au-Prince aboard a Canadian military transport plane Monday afternoon. He will then travel to Jacmel, the coastal town where Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean's family is from, and to Leogane, where much of Canada's military reconstruction effort is concentrated.
The prime minister will also meet with Haiti's president, Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive during his two-day visit.
"We are continuing to work with the government of Haiti to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance," Harper said in a statement released Sunday afternoon.
"At the same time, we now need to address the long-term challenges of reconstruction, based on the principles of sustainability, effectiveness and accountability."
Ottawa sent its Disaster Assistance Response Team to Haiti in the days after the magnitude-7.0 quake struck, and has played a major role in the international effort to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there.
Some 2,000 Canadian troops were eventually sent to Haiti to help with emergency response and reconstruction efforts. Most are stationed in Jacmel and Leogane, distributing food and medical aid, purifying water, setting up shelters, clearing roads and providing security.
Ottawa flew more than 4,325 people to Canada after the quake, which killed 31 Canadians and has left 55 others missing.
Two major international conferences on the situation in Haiti were held in Montreal in the wake of the disaster.
Canadians have donated $145 million to help with emergency response and reconstruction efforts in the island nation. The federal government has pledged to match $124 million of that.
Haiti is the second-largest recipient of Canadian development aid behind Afghanistan. Canada houses a large Haitian diaspora, many of whom live in Quebec. It also has cultural ties to Haiti, as the two countries share a French colonial heritage.
According to some estimates it could take a decade or more for the impoverished country to recover from the disaster, which has leveled much of the capital city and surrounding towns.
At the moment, however, workers are struggling to erect shelters for the 1.2 million Haitians displaced by the quake. The rainy season is expected to begin there within weeks.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100214/Harper_Haiti_100214/20100214?hub=Canada
Date: Sun. Feb. 14 2010 8:38 PM ET
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced he will travel to Haiti on Monday, in one of the first visits by a head of state to the Caribbean country since a powerful earthquake killed more than 200,000 people there a month ago.
Harper is expected to land in Port-au-Prince aboard a Canadian military transport plane Monday afternoon. He will then travel to Jacmel, the coastal town where Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean's family is from, and to Leogane, where much of Canada's military reconstruction effort is concentrated.
The prime minister will also meet with Haiti's president, Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive during his two-day visit.
"We are continuing to work with the government of Haiti to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance," Harper said in a statement released Sunday afternoon.
"At the same time, we now need to address the long-term challenges of reconstruction, based on the principles of sustainability, effectiveness and accountability."
Ottawa sent its Disaster Assistance Response Team to Haiti in the days after the magnitude-7.0 quake struck, and has played a major role in the international effort to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there.
Some 2,000 Canadian troops were eventually sent to Haiti to help with emergency response and reconstruction efforts. Most are stationed in Jacmel and Leogane, distributing food and medical aid, purifying water, setting up shelters, clearing roads and providing security.
Ottawa flew more than 4,325 people to Canada after the quake, which killed 31 Canadians and has left 55 others missing.
Two major international conferences on the situation in Haiti were held in Montreal in the wake of the disaster.
Canadians have donated $145 million to help with emergency response and reconstruction efforts in the island nation. The federal government has pledged to match $124 million of that.
Haiti is the second-largest recipient of Canadian development aid behind Afghanistan. Canada houses a large Haitian diaspora, many of whom live in Quebec. It also has cultural ties to Haiti, as the two countries share a French colonial heritage.
According to some estimates it could take a decade or more for the impoverished country to recover from the disaster, which has leveled much of the capital city and surrounding towns.
At the moment, however, workers are struggling to erect shelters for the 1.2 million Haitians displaced by the quake. The rainy season is expected to begin there within weeks.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100214/Harper_Haiti_100214/20100214?hub=Canada
