In an interview with Rick Bell of Postmedia, Premier Kenney addressed the issue of COVID-19 variant uncertainty with the following comments:

"Who knows what the next variant that gets thrown up is? I don't know," said Kenney in the interview. "And what's the next bat soup thing out of Wuhan? I don't know."

The published interview drew immediate criticism on social media over the premier's comments.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley called for an apology from the premier.

Mary Ng, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Markham-Thornhill, took exception with Kenney's "irresponsible" use of "anti-Asian racist tropes."

Actor and comedian Andrew Phung called Kenney's racist comments the latest in the long list of the premier's failures.

Instead of coming forward to apologize to the public, especially the Asian Canadians communities who have suffered significantly increased discrimination, racism and hate crimes since the onset of the pandemic, Mr. Kenney doubled down and sent his acting Press Secretary to claim '"it is obviously ridiculous to suggest that these widely reported scientific theories are 'racist'.". In fact, there is no credible link between Covid-19 and bats. Premier Kenney’s ridiculous and arrogant remarks would cause more racism, discrimination and hate towards the Asian Canadians communities.

There is globally recognized terminology for the current virus, including the terms “COVID19” and “Corona Virus”. These terms avoid geographic or ethnic references that can lead to discrimination against individuals or groups. The pandemic racism against Asians in Canada has grown rapidly since the outbreak of the virus. Many Canadians have realized the importance of fighting against such racism. Unfortunately, Mr. Kenney has done the opposite. 

We condemn Premier Jason Kenney’s loose comment of “bat soup thing out of Wuhan” that resulted from his failure to understand the nature of the pandemic. It is a sad reality that when Mr. Kenney is encouraging racist and ethnically biased sentiment toward a population with a history of being discriminated against in Canada. This bias goes all the way back to the “Head Tax” and the building of the railroads in Canada. Mr. Kenney’s ignorant words continue the normalization of discrimination against the Chinese Canadians community, which is a minority group, setting otherwise proud and caring Canadians against each other, and harming the very basis upon which Canada’s multicultural, open, and fair democracy operates. 

We call on Mr. Kenney to issue a public apology for his comment. 

在接受 Postmedia 的 Rick Bell 采访时，亚省省长杰森·肯尼（Jason Kenney）发表了以下形容COVID-19 变种病毒不确定性的言论, 他说：

“谁知道下一个被抛出的变种是什么？我不知道，”肯尼在采访中说。 “武汉的下一个蝙蝠汤是什么？我不知道。”

该采访立即在社交媒体上因他的言论而受到批评。

亚省反对党领袖雷切尔·诺特利（Rachel Notley）呼吁省长道歉。

Markham-Thornhill 的联邦自由党议员伍凤仪(Mary Ng)对肯尼的 “不负责任”使用“反亚洲种族主义比喻”表示了异议。

演员兼喜剧演员安德鲁·冯 (Andrew Phung) 称肯尼的种族主义言论是省长工作失败的一长串名单上的最新一例。

省长先生没有出面向公众道歉，特别是自新冠病毒爆发以来遭受歧视、种族主义和仇恨犯罪显著增加的亚裔加拿大人社区。他反而执迷不悟，派他的新闻秘书出来声称:“把被广泛报道的科学理论说成是‘种族主义’显然是荒谬的。”

而事实却是，Covid-19 和蝙蝠之间没有可信的联系。 省长先生的荒谬和傲慢言论只会引起更多针对亚裔加拿大人社区的种族偏见、歧视与仇恨。

当前病毒有全球公认的术语，包括“COVID19”和“Corona Virus”。这些术语避免了使用可能导致对个人或群体歧视的地理或种族名称。自病毒爆发以来，针对亚裔的种族主义在加拿大迅速增长。许多加拿大人已经意识到我们需要跟这种种族主义作斗争的重要性。不幸的是，省长先生却反其道而行之。

我们谴责亚省省长杰森·肯尼（Jason Kenney）由于不了解大流行的性质而发表的“武汉蝙蝠汤”的荒谬评论。令人悲哀的现实却是，肯尼先生正在鼓励对一个在加拿大有被歧视历史的人群的种族主义和种族偏见情绪, 而这种偏见一直可以追溯到“人头税”和加拿大的铁路建设。

肯尼先生的无知言论继续正常化一种对少数群体的华裔加拿大人的歧视，使原本自豪和关心他人的加拿大人相互对立，并损害加拿大多元文化、开放和公平民主运作的基础。

我们呼吁肯尼先生就他的评论发表公开道歉。