BR Viola Desmond Ferry – CP

Source: The Canadian Press – Broadcast wire
Feb 26, 2016

Halifax’s new harbour ferry will be named after civil rights crusader Viola Desmond.

In 1946, Desmond was a black businesswoman from Halifax who was jailed for sitting in the whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow.

After losing various court challenges, Desmond closed her business and left Nova Scotia for Montreal and later New York.

She died in 1967.

In 2010, she was given a posthumous pardon and an apology from the Nova Scotia government.

Desmond’s name was chosen in a vote that was open to all Halifax residents.

The ferry is slated to go into service this summer.

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(The Canadian Press)

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