A great day for Nova Scotia and Canada!

On April 16, Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter publicly apologized to Viola Desmond and her family for her humiliating arrest, trial and jail term over 65 years ago, for sitting in the “white only” section of a Nova Scotia movie theatre.

Known as the “Rosa Parks of Canada”, even though her arrest was 9 years earlier (1946), Desmond refused to get out of her seat in a theatre just because she was an African-Canadian. The manager called the police and Desmond was dragged out of the theatre, arrested and put on trial. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $20.

Desmond and her family fought the verdict, losing the first appeal, but winning the second. The appeals caught the public’s attention, and were instrumental in convincing the Nova Scotia Government to get rid of its segregation laws.

As part of the apology, Lieutenant Governor, Mayann Francis, the first African-Canadian to hold this position in Nova Scotia, signed an official pardon for Desmond.

Desmond passed away in 1965 at the age of 51, but her sister, Wanda Robson, now 83, was happy to accept the apology and pardon on behalf of her late sister. Robson was instrumental in encouraging the government to make an official apology, having recently contacted municipal authorities in the town where Desmond was arrested about officially recognizing her sister’s actions.

The Official Opposition also tabled a Bill calling for Nova Scotia to official recognize the day of Desmond’s arrest, making November 8 Viola Desmond Day.

This was a good day for Nova Scotia and Canada, celebrating a big victory in human rights and equality. We have come a long way since 1946, but there is still a long way to go in the promotion and upholding of equality in Canada, especially considering issues of gender, income levels and poverty.