A new $10 banknote featuring Viola Desmond will soon be in circulation.
This notable moment in history comes just 72 years after Desmond challenged racial segregation at a theatre in New Glasgow, N.S.
Desmond, a civil rights pioneer and businesswoman, will also be known as being the first Canadian woman to be featured on a regularly circulating bill.
Irvine Carvery, a member of Halifax’s north end, has stated his excitement about the bill, describing the inclusion of a black woman on the note as a “historic moment.”
“What it means is that there’s recognition in terms of the struggle that we, as African Canadians have gone through for all of our years of being here,” said Carvery.
“That was a pinnacle event, down in New Glasgow, when she refused to give up her seat. So to put her on the bill is, for me, a recognition that those struggles were real, and they continue through to today.”
Desmond was chosen to be on the bill after an open call for nominations and public opinion survey was posted on the Bank of Canada website.
On the bill, a map will be depicted behind Desmond’s portrait that will include the stretch of Gottingen Street, which is where she opened a salon that eventually expanded into a beauty school.
The note also includes a picture of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, an excerpt from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and an eagle feather, which the Bank of Canada said represents the “ongoing journey toward recognizing rights and freedoms for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.”
The unveiling of the bill first took place in Halifax on March 8 during International Women’s Day.
The bill will officially be in circulation starting Nov. 19.
With files from The Canadian Press
