Check It Out: Today’s heroes were yesterday's villains

By Joan Janzen

"Sometimes the people that are cast as villains in the moment end up becoming the heroes in history," MP Andrew Lawton recently said in an online interview. "I think that's very important to remember."

We are reminded of those words whenever we handle a ten dollar bill. Introduced in 2018, the Canadian ten dollar bill was the first to feature a solo Canadian woman. Viola Desmond died in 1965 at the age of 50, meeting one of the requirements for having her photo on Canadian currency: the person must have been deceased for at least 25 years. She also qualified as a Canadian citizen and as a defender of social justice.

Her moment of fame occurred on November 8, 1946 when this business woman's car broke down in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. While waiting for her car to be repaired she decided to go to a movie.

She had no intention of making a statement. She simply purchased a movie ticket and sat down. However the seat she chose wasn't the one she was expected to sit in and she was told to go somewhere else.

Viola had spent her hard earned money. She was a respectable citizen and business owner. So with no shouting, no scene, no grand declaration, she refused to move.

Soon the police were called and forcefully removed her from the theatre and put her in jail. She hadn't done anything wrong; she just made a simple choice to just stay put.

She risked her reputation, her safety and stability in her business for something that felt wrong, and she chose not to accept it anymore. Viola pushed back against the authority of the society of the time with one quiet act of defiance.

For Viola Desmond, it wasn't about a seat in the theatre; it was refusing to accept something which should never have been a normal issue in the first place, especially in a country that considers itself to be free.

Sometimes the most powerful moments in history aren't planned moments at all. Sometimes it's just pushing back with a choice that impacts the world around you. Sometimes the most impactful people aren't the loudest; they just simply refuse to move.

Viola was a black woman who came from a family of 15 children, four of whom died of childhood diseases. The 32-year-old woman's sister Wanda Robson was a teenager at the time.

"I thought people who went to jail did something wrong, but she did nothing wrong," Wanda had said. The event at the theatre was largely forgotten, but not completely. In 1999 it was mentioned in a book and was included in a National Film Board video called Journey to Justice.

At that time Viola began two decades of campaigning, telling people about her sister's legacy and encouraging others to stand against injustice. Finally in 2010 Viola was issued a Free Pardon which stated she never committed a crime, that she hadn't received justice because justice had been mishandled.

Andrew Lawton mentioned the history of William Lyon MacKenzie who led a revolt against the government of the day. "I'm not encouraging a revolt, but there was a lot in what he said that needed to be changed and he actually got some changes through his efforts," Andrew explained. "He went from being exiled and sentenced to death, to years later becoming a MP, and now he's held up as one of Canada's heroes."

Today we sometimes hear about individuals who are following Viola's example, but instead of staying seated, are standing up for truth and justice. Those individuals could very well become tomorrow's heroes.

Andrew Lawton gave his listeners reason to hope. "Never give up hope no matter how frustrating it gets. When it comes to individual battles, timing is never in our control," he said.

We see the proof of those words every time we hold a ten dollar bill and see Viola honoured eighty years after she made one simple choice for truth and justice. The woman who was once dragged off to jail was eventually pardoned, had plays, a television series, a ferry, three schools, a park, theatre, avenues, and streets named after her.

"We don't always choose when we win the battle, but we have to stick to our principles and eventually the truth will come out," Andrew concluded.