Alberta premier apologizes for comparing plight of unvaccinated to stigma faced by 1980s AIDS patients

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney apologized Wednesday for comparing the treatment of unvaccinated people to the stigma faced by HIV/AIDS patients during the 1980s.

Kenney drew the comparison Tuesday during a news conference where he announced Alberta's plan to immediately start phasing out COVID-19 public health restrictions, including the vaccine passport system.

The premier's comments quickly drew backlash online, including from the Opposition NDP and advocates for the LGBTQ community.

Kenney's words brought new attention to his controversial political history with the gay community, including his attempts to deny hospital visitation rights to gay couples during the 1980s AIDS epidemic in San Francisco.

While answering a reporter's question Tuesday, Kenney said the debate around immunizations and COVID-19 mandates is causing deep divisions among Albertans.

Unvaccinated people are being treated like they are "somehow unclean," he said.

"Everybody should avail themselves of the protection of safe and effective vaccines, and that the choice not to get vaccinated is not just a personal choice — it does have social consequences.

"But it's never OK to treat people like that, to stigmatize people in that way. In a way, it kind of reminds me of the attitudes that circulated in North America in the mid-1980s about people with HIV/AIDS — that there's this notion that they had to be kind of distanced, for health reasons."

On Wednesday morning, Kenney issued an apology on Twitter, describing his comments as an "inappropriate analogy."

The premier repeated his apology during an interview Wednesday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

"That was a wrong analogy to make, and I apologize for having done so," Kenney said.

"It's one of the pitfalls of improvising an analogy. I shouldn't have done that."

In the interview with CBC, Kenney again voiced his concerns about divisions around vaccination. He said unimmunized people are often feared and stigmatized.

"I think the point I was trying to make, and did so inappropriately, was that I've heard people saying they don't want to be in a restaurant or business with somebody who isn't vaccinated," he said.