OTTAWA — RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service are assessing the threat that bioterrorists could bring foot-and-mouth disease into Canada, food inspection officials said Thursday.
But there is little anyone could do to stop activists or anyone else from bringing the disease into the country, said Andre Gravel, executive vice president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“The agency is in contact with people from CSIS in terms of determining the potential for bioterrorism,” Gravel told the Commons agriculture committee amid concerns over comments by an animal-rights group. “It is a real possibility and things have to be done to prevent that from happening,” Gravel said. “The problem is, it’s very easy to do it if you want to do it.”
The question arose after Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said recently that the spread of foot-and-mouth to North America wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Newkirk said an outbreak in Britain has prompted measures for which her organization has pushed for decades, including bans on livestock markets, factory farming and prolonged and frequent transport of animals.
