Alberta's new premier says the unvaccinated are "the most discriminated against"

Oct 12 2022, 5:01 pm

Alberta’s new premier, Danielle Smith, said unvaccinated people faced more discrimination than any group she’s seen in her lifetime.

The remarks came at her first media address as premier following her United Conservative Party leadership win last week.

When asked about comparing what unvaccinated people went through compared to groups who are discriminated against for their race, gender, or sexuality, Smith said unvaccinated people faced “a pretty extreme level of discrimination.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a situation in my lifetime where a person was fired from their job or not allowed to watch their kids play hockey or not allowed to go visit a loved one in long-term care or hospital, not allowed to get on a plane to either go across the country to see family or even travel across the border,” she explained. “That is a pretty extreme level of discrimination.”

Smith said she didn’t want to “take away any of the discrimination” that she’s seen in groups who have faced struggles based on race, gender, or sexuality, but that unvaccinated people “have been the most discriminated against group” that she’s ever witnessed in her lifetime.

“The community who faced the most restrictions on their freedoms in the last year were those made a choice not to be vaccinated.”

As you would expect, there has been a lot of backlash to those comments. Smith’s opposition leader for the Alberta NDP, Rachel Notley, didn’t mince words when sharing her thoughts.

There were plenty of reactions online as well.

There was also some support for the new Alberta premier.

But the comments concerned a number of local groups.

Meanwhile, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek stated, “of the things I could say, I choose to focus on demonstrating to this premier the work that our city continues to do around anti-racism, Indigenous relations, Holocaust remembrance, allyship with the LGBTQ2S+ community & equity-based awareness. In other words, work that matters.”

This all comes after Smith announced she would no longer be taking advice on public health from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Peter KleinPeter Klein

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