Features
Role Models and Mentors Wanda Robson and Viola Desmond
Ph ot o s: c o ur t es y Wan d a R obs o n
Wanda Robson (photo left) is a longtime Girl Guides of Canada member who has helped countless girls and young women to set goals, meet challenges and make a difference in their world. She is also the sister of another strong Canadian female role model and mentor – Viola Desmond (photo right), a black businesswoman from Nova Scotia, whose image will be featured on the new Canadian ten-dollar bank note.
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aring. Courageous. Risk-taker. These are all words used to describe Viola Desmond, when in 1946, she refused to leave the whites-only area of a movie theatre, sparking the first known legal challenge against racial segregation brought forth by a black woman in Canada. Her defiance helped ignite the Canadian civil rights movement.
Viola’s Anti-Discrimination Legacy When it would have been easier to sit down and stay quiet in the designated “blacks” area of the theatre, Viola stood up and spoke out for equality, facing arrest and conviction as a result. Her act of defiance continues to resonate with girls and women across Canada. A trailblazer in her time, Viola is an icon today, and Wanda is proudly keeping her sister’s legacy alive.