Viola Desmond
Viola Desmond (1914–1965)
Viola Desmond remains an icon of the human rights and freedoms movement in Canada. A successful Nova Scotia businesswoman, she defiantly refused to leave a whites-only area of a movie theatre in 1946 and was subsequently jailed, convicted and fined. Her court case was the first known legal challenge against racial segregation brought forth by a Black woman in Canada.
Canada's $10 Bill
Five women were shortlisted for the bill. They were poet E. Pauline Johnson; black rights activist Viola Desmond from Nova Scotia; Elsie MacGill, who received an electrical engineering degree from the University of Toronto in 1927; Quebec suffragette Idola Saint-Jean; and 1928 Olympic medalist Fanny Rosenfeld, a track and field athlete.
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