Canadian envoy urges runners to hit the street
The United States imports Canadian cows.
“Canada already meets and surpasses all of the international agricultural health requirements,” Mr. Grinius said in an interview with the JoongAng Daily on Thursday. He said that in some markets, such as Japan and Hong Kong, Canadian beef has been allowed in ahead of U.S. beef. He said that Canada runs a strict and scientific control mechanism, adding that the recent confirmation of an eighth case of mad cow disease in Canada is a good example that the country has a “very stringent mechanism” in place.
The case was discovered in a cow from Alberta last month. At that time, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that the entire carcass did not enter the human or animal feed systems. “Now, it’s a question of convincing the Korean authorities,” he said.
Mr. Grinius said that he always looks for ways to improve the relationship between Canada and Korea, even though it’s already good. A free trade deal between the two nations would be one way the two nations could benefit from each other, he said. (There have been six rounds of talks on a Korea-Canada deal.) He said that Korean farmers wouldn’t consider the opening a threat, because there are few products that would compete with Korea’s agriculture industry.
He also said he expects to see more academic and cultural exchanges. He mentioned one of the biggest yearly Canadian events in Korea ― the Terry Fox Run, a single-day fundraising event for cancer research. The event is named after a young Canadian who suffered from bone cancer and had his right leg amputated, but ran across Canada for the over 8,500 kilometers (5,300 miles) from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean to raise funds for cancer research. He died at the age of 22 but his “Marathon of Hope” continued by the Terry Fox Foundation established in 1981. Last year, the event was held in over 50 nations.
“[Terry Fox] is a model of somebody who, rather than feeling sorry, depressed or turning inwards, decided to do something,” Mr. Grinius said.
Korea’s Terry Fox Run started in 1991. Last year over 2,300 participated, raising 57 million won ($59,375); the proceeds were donated to the Yonsei Cancer Center.
“The Terry Fox Run will be also held for the first time in Busan at the Haeundae Olympic Park on October 15,” he added.
“According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, cancer is considered to be the leading cause of deaths in Korea, and every week, 400 individuals in Korea die from cancer. Given such a sobering statistic, it is hoped that many people will participate in the Terry Fox Run as a means to raise the awareness in Korea of the threat of this disease while also contributing to continued cancer research,” he said.
by Park Sung-ha
Interested participants should register online at www.ccck.org by Sept. 15. There are two courses, 5-kilometers and 10-kilometers, and it will start at Han River Civil Park near Yeouinaru Station, line No. 5, exit 2, at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 17. Registration is free, but you can have lunch and a T-shirt for 15,000 won, which will be donated to the Yonsei Cancer Center. For more information, call (02) 6400-8461.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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