Statecraft & Independence
Distinguished
Viola Desmond
1914 – 1965
Refused to leave a whites-only cinema seat in 1946
Distinguished is level 3 of 4 in the Canada Hall of Fame: sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
Nine years before Rosa Parks, she refused to move from a whites-only seat in a Nova Scotia cinema, was jailed and fined for it, and fought the charge — and now appears on the ten-dollar note.
On 8 November 1946 Desmond bought a ticket at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow and sat in the lower bowl. Told that section was for white patrons, she refused to move. She was forcibly removed, jailed and fined.
She contested the conviction rather than accept it quietly. The pardon came in 2010, long after her death — the first posthumous free pardon granted in Canada.
She contested the conviction rather than accept it quietly. The pardon came in 2010, long after her death — the first posthumous free pardon granted in Canada.
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