Some members of New Glasgow's Black community upset with state of Viola's Way
CBC
Some members of New Glasgow's Black community are upset with the state of a street named to honour Viola Desmond.
Nearly half the street, if not more, is covered by a restaurant patio, and it's been that way for the past two years.
A portion of the street beside the old Roseland Theatre was renamed Viola's Way five years ago.
The street, approximately 50 metres in length, has been closed to cars since the patio was installed. There are benches and garbage bins in the middle of the street.
Some say a permanent patio should never have been allowed.
"There are literally people looking down on you if the patio is full," said Angela Cromwell, a hairdresser in New Glasgow who says she owes her success to Desmond, who was also a hairdresser. "It's not a very satisfying feeling about the space that was given to us.
"I believe that that is not the reason that Viola stood her ground."
Desmond, a civil rights icon in Canada, was arrested in 1946 while watching a movie on the floor level of the theatre. The theatre was segregated with floor seating for white people only. Black people were relegated to the balcony.
Cromwell says the street went to the highest bidder and it wasn't the Black community. But she said the owner of the restaurant is not to blame.
"He has no idea," said Cromwell. "He really doesn't. But I think the town needs to be more responsible for how that worked and that's when you get to 'it's all about who you know.'"
New Glasgow Mayor Nancy Dicks said there was never a formal request for Viola's Way to be used as a sacred space for the Black community to congregate and host events, as some have suggested.
Dicks said the vision for the street is that it becomes a place where the community can share Desmond's story. She said the town is working with the province on that vision.
She said the road is not permanently closed. The street is closed for cars but it is open for pedestrians.
"There's going to be a much greater conversation around what that space can and will look like in the future. And we're not at that point," said Dicks.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.