‘Another page in the story of Viola Desmond’
Halifax Transit unveils new ferry
Wanda Robson could hardly contain her emotion when she first laid eyes on the new Halifax Transit ferry.
“I hate to sound corny, but when I first saw her name on there, I cried,” Robson said in an interview before Wednesday’s official unveiling of the Viola Desmond.
Desmond — the woman known as Canada’s Rosa Parks — was Robson’s sister. She made history in 1946 when she was arrested and held in jail overnight for sitting in the whites-only section of a New Glasgow movie theatre.
“I didn’t get the significance at that time,” Robson said. “But I do now, and it makes me feel so proud that a sister of mine could go to such lengths to have justice.”
During the unveiling, Robson — who’s 89 years old and now living in North Sydney — had the crowd of about 100 people in stitches with a lesser-known story about Desmond, one about a somewhat sketchy car ride through downtown Halifax with Desmond at the wheel, perched on two extra seat cushions.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that people thought it was a driverless car,” Robson said. “They couldn’t see her.”
“It might be fitting that Viola’s name is now on a ferry so people don’t have to drive so much,” joked Halifax Transit director Dave Reage.
Bill Zebedee, who put Desmond’s name forward in Halifax Transit’s naming contest, said it was “beyond words” to see it on the boat.
“I’m gonna really enjoy next Monday taking my first trip on it,” he said.
Desmond’s name garnered 6,692 of the total 19,238 votes cast in that contest, beating out four others.
“Today we name this ferry after a dynamic, brave, courageous, and successful entrepreneur who was the catalyst for tearing down written and unwritten policies of segregation, discrimination and racism in Canada,” said Mayann Francis, former Nova Scotia lieutenant-governor.
Francis pardoned Desmond — who was convicted of tax evasion for the 1946 movie theatre incident — in 2010.
“It represented the unwavering recognition of her innocence and wrongful conviction all those years before, and righted a wrong that never should’ve happened,” she said.
“This is another page in the story of Viola Desmond.”
Robson said that pardon, and things like the ferry naming help her to remember her sister, and the justice she fought for.
“Look at that,” she said, pointing to the ferry. “That’s a big thing. She’s had the stamp, and the pardon.… It’s been a ride, and we haven’t come to the end yet.”