The sister of the Nova Scotia woman referred to as Canada's Rosa Parks says she's delighted that her sister has finally received an apology and a free pardon for being wrongfully arrested for sitting in the whites only section of a movie theatre.
On Thursday, Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter offered the apology to the family of the late Viola Desmond and to all black Nova Scotians for Desmond's unjust arrest back in 1946.
"This injustice has impacted not just Mrs. Desmond during her life and her family, but other African-Nova Scotians and all Nova Scotians who found and continue to find this event in Nova Scotia's history offensive and intolerable," Dexter said.
"On behalf of the province of Nova Scotia, I am sorry."
Wanda Robson, Desmond's 83-year-old sister, who was present for the emotional moment, says it felt like a dream coming true.
"I never thought I'd ever hear anyone other than my own family say it was a terrible thing," Robson told CTV's Canada AM from Halifax Friday.
"Actually, I didn't feel anything for a moment. It was sort of like: is this really happening? And then the feeling flooded over me: this time, it was really happening. The time had come."
Robson's sister Desmond was 32 when here car broke down near New Glasgow, N.S. in the summer of 1946. As she waited for her car to be repaired, she went to the Roseland Theatre to see a movie. She paid for her ticket but instead of sitting in the balcony where other black patrons were expected to sit, she sat in a seat on the ground floor.
The theatre had her forcibly removed by police. She was jailed and fined – ostensibly for not paying the full tax on the higher priced ground floor ticket.
On Thursday, Lt.-Gov. Mayann Francis granted Desmond a free pardon -- the first time in Canada such a form of clemency has been posthumously awarded.
A free pardon issued by a government differs from a pardon offered by the National Parole Board and is a way to recognize that a conviction should never have been made, says Francis.
"A free pardon is meant to pardon someone who was innocent. And in this situation, Viola Desmond was innocent. It's designed to right a wrong," she told CTV.
Premier Dexter noted that Desmond's arrest, detainment and conviction was "an example in our history where the law was used to perpetrate racism and racial segregation.
"This is contrary to the values of Canadian society."
At the time of Desmond's arrest, the case received little attention outside of Nova Scotia, but it has become known as one of the pivotal cases of civil rights in the mid-20th century.
Robson says she doesn't know if her sister was aware at the time of the repercussions of what she was doing.
"I think the situation didn't hit her until the ticket seller said ‘We can't sell downstairs tickets to you people.' And when she heard ‘you people' she said, ‘Oh, that's the way it is. But I'm not leaving. I'm going to sit down here and here's the extra money for the cost of the ticket," Robson said.
"I think she thought, ‘There's no sign that says I can't sit here and I'm comfortable.' She was a short little woman and she said ‘I need to sit close to the screen so I'm sitting here.' I think it flashed through her mind ‘There's something wrong with this, but I've done nothing wrong so I'm going to sit here'."
After her conviction, Desmond left Nova Scotia, moving first to Montreal and then New York. She died in 1965 at the age of 51.
