Kenney’s comment on Wuhan bat soup sparks criticism, PM’s office says “scientific theory” far from racist

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A flippant remark in a recent year-end interview caused the Alberta Premier’s Office to defend Jason Kenney’s comments and claim they were not hateful in nature.

In an interview with Rick Bell of Postmedia, Premier Kenney addressed the uncertainty of the COVID-19 variant by mentioning the city of Wuhan, China, where the first known case of the virus has been detected.

“Who knows what’s the next variant to throw up? I don’t know,” Kenney said in the interview. “And what’s the next bat soup in Wuhan?” I do not know.

“I have learned through bitter experience not to make predictions about this.”

The published interview drew immediate criticism on social media over the Prime Minister’s comments.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley has called for an apology from the Prime Minister.

Still no apologies from Jason Kenney for his racist comments in a newspaper column published yesterday.

These comments are spreading hatred and fear at a time when, perhaps more than ever, Albertans need to come together.

Prime Minister, apologize and speak out against racism in all its forms. #ableg

– Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) December 23, 2021

The bigotry experienced by Asian Canadians throughout this pandemic is horrific. Offensive phrases like this only help that. The Prime Minister should apologize.

In addition, doctors / health experts have predicted every wave so far, including the fourth wave driven by Delta. So … pic.twitter.com/BEbFR0ECWG

– Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) December 22, 2021

Mary Ng, the Liberal MP for Markham-Thornhill, opposed Kenney’s “irresponsible” use of “anti-Asian racist tropes.”

Repeating racist anti-Asian tropes is irresponsible, @jkenney. Instead of “Wuhan Bat Soup,” let’s focus on vaccinations, masking, keeping our distance and protecting others to keep Canadians safe.

– Mary Ng (@mary_ng) December 23, 2021

Actor and comedian Andrew Phung called Kenney’s racist comments the latest in the Prime Minister’s long list of failures.

You let Albertans down. You’ve always made bad decisions in this health crisis, and racist comments like these remind you why you’re not fit to run Alberta @jkenney. pic.twitter.com/TZJ8krjSFx

– Andrew Phung (@andrewphung) December 22, 2021

In a statement to CTV News Calgary, Harrison Fleming, Kenney’s acting press secretary, said “it is obviously ludicrous to suggest that these widely reported scientific theories are ‘racist’.”

“The Prime Minister’s comment was obviously referring to the widely held theory that the first human infection of COVID-19 was the result of transmission between an infected bat and a human in the Wuhan region of China. The World Health Organization has concluded that the direct spread of bats to humans in Wuhan is a “likely” scenario for the start of human transmission.

“The Prime Minister’s comment stressed that there is no way to predict what will be the catalyst for a future pandemic, or how future variants might evolve.”

Fleming also mentioned Kenney’s organization of two dinner parties earlier this year at Chinese restaurants in Edmonton and Calgary, events designed to “show solidarity with the Chinese community” and to “condemn racist feelings towards the Chinese community. regarding COVID-19. “

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