HALIFAX, N.S. - The Nova Scotia government apologized and granted a special pardon Thursday to the late Viola Desmond, 63 years after she was jailed for sitting in a whites-only section of a segregated movie theatre.
Mayann Francis, the province's first black lieutenant-governor, granted a free pardon to Desmond in what the government said the marked the first time in Canada such a form of clemency had been posthumously awarded.
Premier Darrell Dexter said he was sorry to Desmond's family and all black Nova Scotians for the racism she was subjected to in an incident he called unjust.
"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 at a ceremony in the legislature.
"On behalf of the province of Nova Scotia, I am sorry."
Wanda Robson, Desmond's 83-year-old sister, looked on smiling from the front row of an audience comprised of members of the black community and politicians from all parties.
"I am numb with joy," Robson said, addressing the gathering following the pardon.
Robson, who was 13 years younger than her sister, said it had taken years for her to realize Desmond's historic significance.
She told the audience it was truly impressed upon her when she audited a university course on race relations in 2000 and Desmond's case was brought up for study in class.
"This is where the journey began," he said. "The professor at the university had me tell the class the story of Viola and it just became my mission."
Desmond, then 32, was on her way to Sydney, N.S., on Nov. 8, 1946, to sell beauty products when her car broke down. She went to the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S., while it was being repaired.
She took a seat on the main floor instead of the balcony, the only section of the theatre where blacks were permitted.
Management called police and Desmond was forcibly removed from the theatre. She spent the night in jail.
She was eventually convicted of defrauding the province of a penny - the difference in tax between the main floor and balcony tickets.
Desmond paid a $20 fine and had to ante up the theatre's $6 court costs.
Robson said her sister was able to move on from the incident because she was a unique and strong woman.
"She did things at that time that most women didn't do ... she had her own car, she had learned how to drive and she started her own business - her own black business," said Robson.
Leslie Oliver, president of the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia, said the segregation of blacks had its roots in how the province was settled.
He said many blacks, who were freed slaves, lived in small communities located outside larger towns and cities at the time and were often relegated to doing menial tasks and manual labour.
And although there was no overarching provincial law in place institutionalizing segregation, Oliver said the attitudes took hold in some communities.
"In most towns in Nova Scotia it was a really arbitrary thing. A black person didn't know," he said. "Some restaurants would serve us, some restaurants wouldn't."
He said Desmond, who was from Halifax and just passing through New Glasgow, wouldn't have necessarily known that she had to sit in the theatre's balcony.
Dexter, who days earlier said it was recent media reporting on Desmond's story that had grabbed his government's attention, said the free pardon was an important symbolic gesture given that there is still racial discrimination and intolerance in society.
"To look back and to right a wrong that was done many years ago is important," he said. "It sends a message to the broader community, but particularly to young people."
Desmond died in 1965.
Dexter said earlier this week that the government is considering the designation of a special day to recognize her contributions to the province.