(16 Feb 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Military plane carrying Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper taxiing on tarmac
2. Security, plane on tarmac
3. Various of Harper emerging from plane, being greeted by local officials and Canadian military personnel
4. Close-up of Harper talking
5. Media
6. Harper shaking hands with Canadian military personnel and getting into vehicle
7. Haitian President Rene Preval walking to shake hands with Harper, Harper then shaking hands with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive
8. Close-up of Harper and Preval
9. Wide of Preval, Harper and Bellerive walking into tent at Canadian base
10. Various of Preval and Harper shaking hands with Canadian Forces at Canadian base at the Port-au-Prince airport
11. Media
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen Harper, Canadian Prime Minister:
"Haiti is a long term priority for the government, we don''t intend to leave at this time until the job is done. It has been the commitment of the international community. I spoke about a decade long plan that we need to develop. By financing this temporary government administrative centre, we are trying to give to the Haitian government immediately some of the capacity necessary to develop that plan and work with the international community."
13. Media
14. SOUNDBITE (French) Rene Preval, Haitian President:
"It is also the occasion to thank the Canadian government, but also the Canadian population for the effort they have put to help the Haitian people."
15. Various of Harper meeting the heads of the Canadian Military forces inside tent
16. Harper and Preval walking through base
17. Various of Preval and Harper posing for pictures with Canadian forces
STORYLINE
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Monday that Canada would spend up to 12 (m) million US dollars to create a temporary facility to house government departments and civil servants in quake-stricken Haiti.
Harper made the announcement at the start of a two-day visit to the island nation.
Harper is the first G20 leader to visit Haiti since the January 12 earthquake, following the heads of several neighbouring countries who have already made the trip.
Many Haitian government buildings have been reduced to rubble.
Workers have been trying to salvage any scraps of paper documents while crews remove bodies and bulldozers demolish what''s left of the condemned buildings.
The Canadian-funded base will include soft-covered tents and hard-shelled temporary buildings.
It is expected to be running for up to a year, and construction will start once the Haitian government chooses a location.
Earlier on Monday, Harper landed in the capital of Port-au-Prince in a military transport plane, kicking off his two-day trip by a meeting with President Rene Preval.
He also met Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive at the Canadian camp base at the Port-au-Prince airport.
After meeting Preval and Bellerive, Harper said that Haiti was a "a long term priority for the government".
"I spoke about a decade long plan that we need to develop. By financing this temporary government administrative centre, we are trying to give to the Haitian government immediately some of the capacity necessary to develop that plan and work with the international community," he told reporters.
Preval thanked the Canadian government and people for their efforts to help Haiti.
Harper will also inspect efforts by Canadian armed forces as they help with reconstruction.
The prime minister was expected to head to Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean''s ancestral hometown, Jacmel, and from there to Leogane, a key hub of Canadian activity.
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