A local historian is hoping the new $10 bill will shed some light on Canada's civil rights struggle.
Shannon Prince, curator of the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum, is confident that Viola Desmond's story will enlighten Canadians about racial segregation in Canada -- especially now that Desmond has been chosen as the first Canadian woman to be featured on a banknote.
"Many people are aware of the Rosa Parks' story, but I don't know how many are really familiar with Viola's," says Prince. "I think by placing her on a bill, this will shed some light on what was happening right here in Canada."
Desmond was a businesswoman in Nova Scotia, and is best known as a pioneer in the fight for social justice for refusing to leave the whites-only section of a movie theatre in 1946. She was subsequently fined and jailed, but later launched an appeal of her conviction.
Prince hopes Desmond's story will ultimately change the lens through which we view black history in Canada.
"I think when people think of Canada, they think of it as this welcoming place, where escaped slaves came - and they did come - but Canada wasn't very welcoming, because there was slavery here," she says.
Desmond, like many women, Prince says, has gone mostly unrecognized, but she believes that's all about to change.
"The women are the ones who aren't normally given the praise or the accolades, because they are usually the ones that are in the background," says Prince. "But there are some very strong-willed, determined women, who have really shaped the Canadian history."
