by The province has repaid the fine and court costs faced by civil rights leader Viola Desmond over 70 years ago.
Desmond was found guilty of tax evasion after she challenged racial segregation at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow in 1946.
The idea for the symbolic repayment originated with junior high student Varishini Deochand from Vaughan, Ontario, who was present for a virtual ceremony marking the repayment today.
Deochand says she learned about Desmond through a school project.
The $26 in costs faced by Desmond amounts to an estimated $368 today.
The money was repaid to Desmond’s sister Wanda Robson, but Robson chose to donate the repayment to a one-time scholarship at Cape Breton University and the province increased the amount to a thousand dollars.