The story of Viola Desmond, an entrepreneur who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940s. The 82nd Heritage Minute in Historica Canada's collection.
In 1946, Viola Desmond was arrested at a Nova Scotia movie theatre while sitting in a downstairs section reserved for white patrons, rather than the balcony section for non-white patrons. She was convicted for failing to pay the 1-cent difference in tax between the two sections, despite her offer to pay for the more expensive ticket. Desmond appealed the conviction and though she was unsuccessful, her case became a catalyst for change. In 1954, segregation was legally ended in Nova Scotia thanks in large part to the courageous determination of Desmond and others like her who fought to be treated as equal human beings. Desmond was posthumously pardoned in 2010 and the Nova Scotia government apologized, calling her conviction a miscarriage of justice.
