| Added by |
 Alain Martineau
|
| General Description : | East coast journalist and activist Carrie Best was featured on one of Canada Post’s Black History month 2011 stamps. Best had worked with Viola Desmond to lobby the provincial government to repeal its segregation laws, which it did in 1954. Desmond was arrested in Nova Scotia in 1945, for sitting in the “whites-only” section of New Glasgow’s Roseland theatre. After being dragged from the theatre, sitting up all night in jail still wearing her white gloves, Desmond was tried without counsel and convicted of defrauding the province of the additional one-cent tax for seats in the whites-only section, and fined $20. She paid the fine but went on to fight the charge in higher levels of court. Subsequent trials focused on tax-evasion, not that Ms. Desmond has been a victim of racism. All efforts to have the conviction overturned were unsuccessful, and her lawyer eventually returned her fee, which she used to fund the activities of the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NSAACP). In 2011, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia invoked the Royal Prerogative and granted Desmond a posthumous pardon, the first such to be granted in Canada, and the government of Nova Scotia formally apologized. |
| Face value | PERMANENT™ domestic rate $0.61 |
| Catalog code (Michel) | CA MH0-428 |
| Catalog code (Scott) | CA 2521a |
| Catalog code | Canada post Product #: 403827108; Yvert et Tellier CA C2678 Stanley Gibbons CA SB448 |
| Series | Black History series |
| Stamp colour | multicolor |
| Stamp use | Booklet stamp |
| Print run | 2.650.000 |
| Issue date | 01/02/2012 |
| Designer | Lara Minja (Lime Design Inc.) |
| Paper type | Tullis Russell |
| Print technique | Lithography in 8 colours plus varnish |
| Printed by | Lowe-Martin |
| Perforation | Simulated perforation |
| Catalog prices | No catalog prices set yet |
