Undated archival handout photo of Viola Desmond.Undated archival handout photo of Viola Desmond.
Chatham

Black Rights Pioneer To Grace $10 Bill

Viola Desmond will be the first Canadian woman featured on the face of a Canadian bank note.

Canada's Finance Minister Bill Morneau made the announcement Thursday morning.

Desmond was a Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation in Canada.

She is often described as Canada's Rosa Parks, which is a reference to her decision to sit in a whites-only section of a Nova Scotia movie theatre in 1946.

Desmond was selected from a shortlist of candidates that included poet Emily Pauline Johnson, engineer Elizabeth MacGill, athlete Fanny (Bobbie) Rosenfeld, and suffragette Idola Saint-Jean.

Desmond is expected to be featured on the front of the $10 bill starting in 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie0xWYRSX7Y&feature=youtu.be

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