VIOLA DESMOND

TAKING A STAND

On November 8, 1946, Viola Desmond was travelling on business and decided to see a movie at Rosalind Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.  She bought a balcony ticket, then challenged the theatre’s segregation by sitting downstairs in the whites-only section.  For this, she was arrested.  Outraged, the Black Nova Scotian community organized and fought the injustice in a case that has come to represent a turning point in the struggle for rights in Canada.

Since then, respect for diversity has emerged in the minds of Canadians.  In 1971, Canada launched its new policy of multiculturalism.  It recognized the many ethnocultural communities that make up the fabric of Canada. Initially, symbolic, through the decades the policy has promoted respect for diversity and contributed to preserving a multitude of cultural identities in Canada.  While barriers still exist 50 years later, the concept of multiculturalism has become embedded in the civic identity of many Canadians.