Viola Desmond

Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 - February 7, 1965) was a Black Nova Scotian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman. In 1946, she refused to leave a whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, to protest racial segregation. She was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she paid for and the more expensive seat she used. Desmond's case was one of the most widely publicized cases of racial discrimination in Canadian history, and it helped launch Canada's modern civil rights movement.

Desmond received the first posthumous free pardon in Canada in 2010. A free pardon considers the person granted the pardon to have never committed the offence and cancels any consequences resulting from the conviction, such as fines, prohibitions, or forfeitures. However, it was not until 2021 that the government repaid the $26 fine to her estate in the form of a $1,000 scholarship that adjusted the amount to reflect the time value of money.

Desmond became the first Canadian woman to appear alone on a Canadian bank note in late 2018 - a $10 bill unveiled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz on March 8, 2018 at the Halifax Central Library. Desmond was also named a National Historic Person in 2018.