Biography

Viola Robinson is a petite woman with a strong voice. A member of Wasoqopa’q First Nation, formerly Acadia Band, she has been an advocate for the rights of Aboriginal Canadians for more than half a century. She was instrumental in negotiating a process for the implementation of governance and treaty rights for Mi'kmaq communities in Nova Scotia, and has worked to end discrimination against Aboriginal women nationally, serving as president of the Native Council of Nova Scotia and as president of the Native Council of Canada. She was one of seven commissioners who travelled across Canada with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in the early 1990s.

A graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in Meteghan and Maritime Business College in Halifax, Viola earned an LLB in 1998 from Dalhousie’s School of Law eight years after receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws from the same institution. Other awards include The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation in 1992; the Halifax YWCA Women's Recognition Award in 1997; the Frances Fish Women Lawyers' Achievement Award in 2003; the Order of Nova Scotia in 2009; and Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011.

Her steadfast will has resulted in meaningful change across Canada, and her definition of justice is about doing what is right, not what is for right now. She has sacrificed decades of her life to advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada, at the same time battling prejudice and racism to educate settlers. Now retired, Viola remains active and is currently serving as a member of the joint Indigenous, Association, and Board Council (IABC) at Acadia University.