Group urges federal government to help Holocaust denier on trial in Germany

Problems persist in an Alberta mountain town overrun with rabbits despite an ongoing cull that has cost almost $400,000.

Canmore introduced its feral rabbit management program six years ago after much pro- and anti-bunny bickering and outcries from animal rights advocates.

The town says about 1,200 rabbits have been destroyed so far, but about 1,000 remain.

It says it plans to continue the program.

The rabbits are descendants of domesticated animals released in the area years ago.

Residents remains divided over the cull — some are frustrated by the damage done to public and private property, while others don’t mind the long-eared interlopers.

“They should just do a complete eradication rather than just spot (culling). It doesn’t work, as everyone knows about rabbits, so they have to get more serious about it,” said Marlene FoulkesJones who has lived in Canmore for 20 years.

Ken Anderson is among those who like the rabbits and said he doesn’t mind having them around.

“The advantages to having the rabbits are ... that it makes it sort of a cute, cuddly little place to live,” he said.

But he notes there’s a flip side. “The disadvantages are the invitation of larger predators that have either rabbits or pets in mind.”

Jay Honeyman, a human-wildlife conflict biologist, said the rabbits do attract large predators to the town.

“We’ve certainly got coyotes and we’ve got bears and cougars known to be feeding on rabbits within the urban footprint,” he said. “The reality is that the rabbits are a potential food source and the town has been trying to get a handle on that.

“It’s a tricky one because rabbits, they breed.”

Canmore’s Mayor John Borrowman says informal surveys show a definite split in the community.

“The rabbits have always been a bit of an issue in town because they’re cute and fluffy. A lot of people love the rabbits and they don’t see them as a problem,” he said. “Others recognize that they’re a wildlife food attractant. They have to be managed.”

A civil liberties group is urging the Canadian government to end the “unjust and immoral” imprisonment of Monika Schaefer, a German-Canadian woman on trial in Germany for publishing videos denying the Holocaust.

The Ontario Civil Liberties Association says it’s concerned about Canada’s apparent unwillingness to come to the aid of Schaefer, who it describes as a Canadian “political prisoner” who was charged with a German criminal law that does not exist in Canada and is contrary to international law.

In a letter signed by executive director Joseph Hickey, the association calls on Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland to act immediately, starting with appointing a consular observer and direct Monika Schaefer is shown in a 2016 YouTube video denying the Holocaust.

contact for Schaefer.

“We ask you both to do everything you can to save Monika Schaefer from her ongoing unjust and immoral imprisonment in Germany,” the letter says.

“Every day that Canada refuses to act or acts ineffectively is a day that Ms. Schaefer spends in a foreign jail. Therefore, we express the required urgency.”

Global Affairs Canada says consular services are being provided to a Canadian citizen who has been detained in Munich.

“To protect the privacy of the individual concerned, further details on this case cannot be released,” says spokeswoman Elizabeth Reid.

Schaefer ran for the Green party three times in Alberta’s Yellowhead riding before the party rejected her candidacy in 2015. The next year, she appeared in a YouTube video denying the Holocaust, which prompted the party to publicly condemn her views.

In the video titled, “Sorry mom, I was wrong about the Holocaust,” Schaefer says she was born and raised in Canada after her parents emigrated from Germany in the 1950s.

The Munich public prosecutor’s office says Schaefer was in Germany visiting family members when she was arrested in January. She was charged with six counts of “incitement of the people” for publishing videos denying the Holocaust.