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A Hitler Youth flag has been spotted flying over a rural Alberta property for the second time in the span of a week.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies says it was alerted Sunday to a Nazi and a Confederate flag on a property near Breton, Alberta.
The news comes less than a week after RCMP convinced a property owner near the northern Alberta village of Boyle to remove a similar flag.
In a news release, the centre said the property owner refused to remove the flags after being approached by Breton RCMP. Postmedia has reached out to RCMP for comment.
The centre filed criminal complaints in relation to both flags, alleging the property owners are wilfully promoting hatred and demanded police conduct a hate crimes investigation.
“It is extremely disturbing and quite disheartening to once again see a Hitler Youth flag, as well as the Confederate flag, on display,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, the Toronto-based centre’s director of policy. “These displays of hate go against the values that Canada stands for and are an attack on not only the Jewish and Black communities, but also on our veterans and fallen soldiers who made unspeakable sacrifices to defeat the Nazis and preserve our freedoms.”
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Brazeau County Reeve Bart Guyon called the flag “disturbing.”
“I’m not sure what their objective is by doing that,” he said.
Breton’s chief administrative officer said the property is not within the boundaries of the village, which she noted was founded by Black settlers.
In a tweet, the Jewish Federation of Edmonton said they were aware of the flag and have been in contact with law enforcement.
“This is the second incident in Alberta in as many weeks. These images remain deeply offensive to our community and to the vast majority of Canadians.”
More to come.
