Members of Calgary’s Chinese community are demanding a public apology from Premier Jason Kenney for what they describe as racist comments made in a recent media interview.
More than 60 people gathered outside of McDougall Centre on a frigid New Year’s Day morning to condemn Kenney’s comments, in which he told Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell in a year-end interview, “What’s the next bat soup thing out of Wuhan? I don’t know.”
Attendees held signs with lines like “Racism is a disgrace to Alberta” and “Zero tolerance for anti-Asian hate” as a series of speakers took to the mic with concerns the premier’s comments will worsen discrimination against Chinese Canadians, a group which faced an increase in vitriol following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We gather here to voice concern on Jason Kenney’s irresponsible and toxic comments,” said Jiannong Wu during the rally. “(This type of language) has provoked a significant increase in hate crimes against Asian people in general and Chinese in particular.”
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was first identified in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. A viral video which circulated shortly afterwards purported bat soup in a Wuhan wet market was the origin of the virus, but that claim was quickly debunked.
Kenney’s press secretary Justin Brattinga said Kenney gave an apology for the comments in a Dec. 24 interview with LifeCalgary, a local Chinese-language outlet which publishes on the Chinese WeChat social media platform. Their interview with Kenney was published Wednesday.
“I do want say that by the way, if anybody did take offence, that I apologize to them, if they took offence, certainly none was intended,” said Kenney in the interview, quotes from which were provided by Brattinga.
“I’m sorry if people felt offended by what I said, that was not my intention. And I certainly want to thank the Chinese Canadian community in Alberta for the tremendous care that it has shown in being responsible during COVID.”
In an earlier statement to CTV, the premier’s office had defended Kenney’s comments, saying it was “obviously ridiculous” to call his words racist.
Wu works at the Foothills Medical Centre as a medical technologist. He said he’s faced racism as a front-line worker since the start of the pandemic, including from one patient who demanded he speak English when he was already speaking the language, and from another who refused his care altogether.
He said he fears Kenney’s comments will provoke further hatred, and said a broad public-facing apology is necessary.
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