A woman credited with starting the civil rights movement in Canada is now the face of the country’s new $10 bill that went into circulation Monday.
In 1946, Viola Desmond was kicked out of a Nova Scotia movie theatre after she refused to leave a whites-only section. Desmond was also arrested, even though the theatre’s segregation was not the law.
“Her story is representative of so many of our stories,” said Junetta Jamerson, the co-founder of Black Women United YEG.
Desmond is the first person of colour, and the first woman born in Canada, to appear on a bill. This is also the first vertical bill, to signify the way Desmond stood up for human rights.
The new bill is expected to teach Canadians what Desmond did for people of colour.
“We feel this is a great opportunity to tell her story,” Bank of Canada Senior Analyst Michelle Marselle said.
According to the Bank of Canada, all Canadian bills will eventually be vertically oriented, although this won't happen for several years.
With files from Nahreman Issa
