By Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney apologizes for making analogy between COVID-19 and AIDS

Feb 9, 2022 | 10:13 AM

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has apologized for comparing the stigma of being unvaccinated for COVID-19 to the plight of HIV-AIDS patients in the 1980s.

In a post on Twitter, Kenney calls it an inappropriate analogy.

Kenney told a news conference yesterday it’s wrong to judge and stigmatize people who have decided not to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

He compared it to attitudes decades ago when some people wanted HIV-AIDS patients isolated for health protection of others.

Kenney has a personal tie to the issue, fighting in San Francisco in the 1980s to overturn a law extending hospital visitation rights to gay couples a move aimed at preventing people from visiting their dying partners.

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The Opposition NDP calls Kenney’s comparison despicable and says Kenney has no credibility passing himself off as a human rights defender.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2022

The Canadian Press