Viola Desmond, often described as the Canadian version of Rosa Parks, will be the first Canadian woman on the face of a Canadian banknote. Desmond will be on the $10 bill beginning in 2018.
"Viola Desmond's own story reminds all of us that big change can start with moments of dignity and bravery," Finance Minister Bill Morneau said at a news conference in Gatineau, QC. "She represents courage, strength and determination — qualities we should all aspire to every day."
Desmond's sister, Wanda Robson, attended the ceremony.
Viola Desmond had already experienced discrimination when trying to establish her beautician career since she wasn’t allowed to study in Halifax. Desmond was on a business trip when her car broke down in New Glasgow (about 160 km northeast of Halifax) in 1946.
Desmond bought a ticket wanting to sit on the main floor of the movie theatre. After she sat on the main floor, she was told that she could not sit there. Desmond was forcibly removed from the theatre, arrested, and spent the night in jail.
Desmond was charged with tax evasion over the 1¢ difference between the balcony vs. the main floor ticket. The theatre would only sell Desmond a balcony ticket, but she wanted to sit on the main floor, so she hadn’t paid the extra tax. But in that scenario, only a black person would be charged with the crime since a white person could sit on the main floor.
Desmond was given a posthumous free pardon in 2010. She passed away at the age of 50 in 1965.
The short list included poet E. Pauline Johnson; Elsie MacGill, who was the first Canadian woman to receive an electrical engineering degree; Quebec suffragette Idola Saint-Jean; and 1928 Olympic track and field medallist Fanny Rosenfelde. Others in consideration included Alberta suffragette and Famous Five activist Nellie McClung; Lucy Maud Montgomery of Anne of Green Gables fame; B.C. artist Emily Carr; and Manitoba author Gabrielle Roy. Nominees needed Canadian citizenship and been dead for at least 25 years.
While the United States decided earlier to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, for a number of reasons, Tubman won't appear on the bill until well after 2020. Desmond will be on the Canadian $10 bill well before that date. John A. Macdonald, the country' first prime minister, currently appears on the $10 bill. Queen Elizabeth II is on the Canadian $20 bill, but she is definitely not Canadian.
I had heard the Viola Desmond story a while back but I was a bit perplexed because Nova Scotia and Jim Crow didn't seemingly go together. There were pockets of racism at various points in Canada in this and later times. I did get the impression that Nova Scotia was much more involved in discrimination in that era.
Younger Canadians may not know of this part of the history in Canada. Having Viola Desmond on the $10 bill will help teach that much more visible lesson.
photo credit: REUTERS/Chris Wattie
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