Viola Desmond Day gets backing from town councils
Desmond refused to leave the whites-only section of a Nova Scotia theatre
Nova Scotia's newest holiday has yet to be named, but at least three town councils have already decided it should be Viola Desmond Day.
New Glasgow, Sydney and Shelburne have both passed motions to name the province's February holiday after the African Nova Scotian entrepreneur from Halifax.
The New Glasgow town council approved the motion in January and even sent a letter to Premier Stephen McNeil.
Desmond is known for sitting in a whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow in 1946.
She was arrested and spent the night in jail.
Her public court battle helped put an end to Nova Scotia's segregation laws.
In 2010 she received a posthumous pardon from the Nova Scotia government.
Desmond’s sister Wanda Robson said after a little thought, she was thrilled with the idea.
“I think it was a brave act. In our province it really started people, I think, to really think about the inequality of blacks and whites,” she said.
A contest to name the new February holiday begins on Monday.
The Liberal government will announce how to nominate a name and who will decide the winner.
The holiday will start in 2015.