Viola Desmond – First Canadian Woman On Canadian Currency

First Canadian woman on Canadian currency – chosen out of 26,000 submissions. Her acts of defiance helped spark Canada’s civil rights movement, and her trailblazing act of defiance pressured Nova Scotia to put a legal end to segregation in 1954. She was a businesswoman, a beautician and a mentor to young african-canadian women in her community.

She opened a beauty and hair salon, and designed and produced her own line of cosmetics specifically formulated for darker complections, Viola Desmond was arrested In 1947, after tried for her actions on November 8th 1946 at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow. The incident began after her car had broken down on the way to a business meeting and while waiting for it to be fixed, she decided to see a movie. She arrived to a 7 o-clock showing, asked for a seat downstairs, and handed the woman at the front ticket desk a 1$ bill (the price of admission) and was given 1 penny back, the ticket seller handed her a ticket to the balcony seating area upstairs, and unknowingly viola headed towards the downstairs seating area where she had asked to be seated. The usher refused her entry to the downstairs seating area saying her ticket was valid for balcony seating only. Thinking there must have been a mistake, Viola returned to the counter and asked why she had been given the wrong ticket. The woman at the ticket booth responded that she “wasn’t permitted to sell main downstairs seating to you people” (a reference her skin colour) Viola attempted to purchase a ticket for the downstairs seating area again, and attempted to pay the difference in ticket price (the 1 penny she had been given in change).

After being refused again, Viola returned to the downstairs seating area and sat down, ignoring the complaints and protests of staff and those around her. Shortly after, the manager stormed in and asked her to leave saying that he was enacting his “right to refuse entry to objectionable people” in response Viola stated that she had not in fact been refused entry, and held up her ticket as proof, and that she had tried repeatedly to purchase and pay the difference for a seat in the downstairs seating area but had been refused. Directly after, the police arrived and told her she had to leave immediately, or she would be removed. Ahe responded that she hadn't done anything wrong, or illegal and didn't wish to leave since she had paid for a ticket and had the right to be there. She then was suddenly and violently dragged Viola from the theatre – injuring her hip and knee on the armrest when the policeman grabbed her arms, and manager grabbed her legs to carry her out into the street. She was held overnight for 12 hours in jail, then dragged before a judge. She was not given a lawyer or informed of her rights to council, and the crown prosecutor was absent, naming the manager of the theatre as prosecutor instead. She was charged with attempt to defraud the provincial government, because she allegedly “refused to pay” the extra 1 cent amusement tax, the difference in price between the downstairs and balcony seating areas. She attempted to argue her case but was cut off and charged with a fine of 26$. After being examined by a doctor for the injuries she sustained while being violently carried from the theatre, Viola decided to take another stand against her blatant racist treatment. Viola contacted a lawyer and attempted to reverse her charges, however the lawyer she contacted refused her case saying it “wasn't a valid case.” Unperturbed, Viola started a civil case, with herself as the plaintiff and the manager and roseland theatre as the defendants.

Her case argued that the defendants had acted unlawfully when they violently carried her from the theatre, and that she should receive compensation based on assault, malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment. With no judges willing to hear her case, it never made it to trial. Shortly after, she once again applied to have the supreme court put aside her criminal conviction, but the judge ruled against her on the grounds that “the decision of the original magistrate should have been appealed to the country court, and as the 10 day deadline for filing an appeal has passed” her conviction still stood. Although her convictions were on the basis of “defrauding the government ” it was very clear to Viola, and many in her community, that her real offense had been sitting in a “white only” section in a theatre as an African Canadian woman. Discouraged by the lack of progress with her court challenges, Viola stopped attempting to seek legal representation and turned instead to the support of her community.

Legal reform: Viola’s brave decision in the roseland theatre was an act of civil disobedience which sparked mass support from her community in support of equality and civil rights. Viola brought awareness to the extent of inequality and injustice present at the time in Nova Scotia, as well as in the legal system. Viola’s refusal to conform to a racist society, and her continual attempts to fight her unjust treatment are why she became such a symbol for legal reform in regards to civil rights and more importantly the legal end of segregation in Nova Scotia in 1954.

The end of legal segregation in Nova Scotia was a huge success for equality not only in Nova Scotia, but across Canada. Nova Scotia was the last province to end segregation in schools, making the Canadian school system officially segregation free in 1954. Unfortunately, racism still persisted and still does now, however thanks to trailblazing activists like Viola Desmond, we have laws in place to support individuals of all ethnicities, and protect their rights and freedom from discrimination based on skin colour and ethnicity. In 1982 the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms came into enactment which protects both fundamental rights, as well as equality rights. The charter also has a section under legal rights which states that “everyone has the rights to retain and instruct counsel without delay, and to be informed of that right”, which will help prevent others from facing the same unjust trial as Viola.