Alberta Premier facing criticism for Wuhan bat soup comments in year-end interview

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is under fire for comments he made during a year-end interview that was published online earlier this week.

The article saw Kenney do a one-on-one with Rick Bell of Postmedia where he talked about the current state of the pandemic, his government’s response to COVID and what’s to come in the months ahead.

But, when asked about what the province can expect moving forward, Kenney had some controversial remarks on the topic.

“Who knows what the next variant that gets thrown up is? I don’t know. And what’s the next bat soup thing out of Wuhan? I don’t know.

“I’ve learned from bitter experience not to make predictions about this.”

His response immediately caught the attention of people on social media, including Alberta’s Opposition Leader, Rachel Notley.

Still no apology from Jason Kenney for his racist comments in a newspaper column that ran yesterday.

These comments spread hate and fear at a time when, perhaps more than ever before, Albertans need to come together.

Premier, apologize and denounce racism in all forms. #ableg

— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) December 23, 2021

Even Calgary’s own Andrew Phung from the popular TV show Kim’s Convenience chimed in.

You have failed the people of Alberta. You’ve consistently made wrong decisions in this health crisis, and racist comments like these are a reminder of why you are unfit to lead Alberta @jkenney. pic.twitter.com/TZJ8krjSFx

— Andrew Phung (@andrewphung) December 22, 2021

“We have workers, we have Albertans young and old, students, public servants who actually continue to live in fear,” explained Teresa Woo-Paw with the Act2EndRacism National Network. “They are actually concerned about their personal safety.”

Following the backlash, the premier’s office went on defence, saying in a statement to CityNews:

“The Premier’s comment obviously referred to the widely reported theory that the first human infection of COVID-19 resulted from transmission between an infected bat and a human in the Wuhan region of China. The World Health Organization has concluded that direct spread from bats to humans in Wuhan is a ‘likely’ scenario to explain the beginning of human transmission.

“It is obviously ridiculous to suggest that these widely reported scientific theories are ‘racist.’”

But, to many, the ridiculous part of this all is to suggest that Kenney’s remarks are not racist.

“His word is actually causing an adverse impact on a group of people. That is racial discrimination,” said Woo-Paw.

– With files from CityNews reporter Sarah Chew