12.08.2016 09:53 AM

Viola Desmond

This is so, so awesome.  Well done, Bill Morneau.  Just awesome.

(And no, Nellie McClung shouldn’t have been considered, much less on the list.  She was a racist and a proponent of eugenics, which is National Socialism in a lab coat.)

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24 Comments

  1. dave constable says:

    Yeah, our family on my wife’s side are related to McClung, and I have read the same on her. She was also very harsh on anyone who di not fully support the British Empire’s war on the Central Powers, suggesting the worst of motives and punishments for such people

  2. Timothy O'Malley says:

    I agree, Warren. This is great news.

  3. Vancouverois says:

    So why didn’t they put her in the place of Laurier on the 5 instead?

    Surely they should have replaced him, rather than the country’s very first PM.

  4. BillBC says:

    I thought you’d say that Warren. But really, what she was was a victim of racism. She wasn’t a crusader, but a woman who endured racism, and after her trial was over, left the country and only came back to be buried here. A victim of racism who endured it.

    If we wanted a Social Justice Warrior, how about Khan-Tineta Horn? But no, she harrassed Liberals, and that wouldn’t do.

  5. Steve T says:

    Disagree. Nellie McClung, despite her warts, did more to aid a broader swath of Canadians. In addition, because she has been more prominent over a long period of time, her warts have been more fully researched. Has anyone done a deep dive into Viola Desmond’s background? I’m not saying there is anything problematic, but it’s easier to see someone in a rosy light when you know less about them.

    Viola Desmond is definitely a worthy contender, but she also is a bit of the flavor-of-the-month. Had anyone heard of her, broadly, until a couple of years ago? I also agree with BillBC, in that she did less (actively) than some of the other contenders.

  6. Charlie says:

    As of early 2016, only 25% of Canadians actually used cash for transactions.

    The gesture is nice and all, but sort of pointless since the object itself is becoming rapidly obsolete.

  7. pat says:

    Good decision!

  8. monkey says:

    Good choice, but why on the $10 bill instead of $20 bill. The Queen is not Canadian so replacing with a Canadian woman makes sense there. On the other hand the $10 bill has our very first prime-minister so I figure at least one bill should have our first prime-minister on it.

    • Vancouverois says:

      First of all, the Queen is our head of state. Of course she belongs on our money.

      Secondly, the point of the exercise was to INCREASE the number of women represented on our currency, not to keep it the same.

      I agree that our first PM should be on the $10. They should have replaced somebody else – perhaps Laurier on the $5 instead.

  9. PJH says:

    I’m ashamed to say I had heard and read of Rosa Parks……but I had to look up Viola Desmond. As well, when I was in school, I only received the sanitized version of the Nellie McClung story…..
    The older I get, I realize how little I was taught of the true history of this country……..partly my own fault, I suppose……but if it was in the textbooks, it was so……or if not in the textbooks…..it didn’t happen…….

  10. How much of the anti Nellie McClung sentiment is simply sexism? Are we judging as harshly the men of her time who had similar views?

  11. Wolfer says:

    By selfish I mean selfies. It’s autocorrect.

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