Alta. premier apologizes for comparing treatment of unvaccinated people to that of HIV/AIDS patients
CTV
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has ceded to criticism that he was unfair in comparing the stigmatization of people who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 with the discrimination of people with HIV/AIDS during the 1980s.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has ceded to criticism that he was unfair in comparing the stigmatization of people who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 with the discrimination of people with HIV/AIDS during the 1980s.
Kenney said in a statement on Twitter Wednesday morning he "made an inappropriate analogy to the stigmatization of people with AIDS" during a news conference Tuesday.
"I was wrong to do so and apologize without reservation."
The apology came about 14 hours after he made the inflammatory comments.
On Tuesday, Kenney announced Alberta's plan to reopen and drop most COVID-19 public health measures, including its version of a vaccine passport and mask mandates.
While taking media questions, the premier said he was "deeply" concerned by those who've said they would not eat at restaurants where it was possible they could be dining alongside someone who was not vaccinated.
“To stigmatize people in that way, it kind of reminds me of the attitudes that circulated in North America in the mid-1980s about people with HIV/AIDS. This notion that they had to be kind of distanced for health reasons…this is a terribly divisive attitude," he commented.
