Miss Island of Montreal 2018- finalist for Miss World Canada Pageant to be held in Toronto, Canada – July 22-28/18
Submitted by Clara Di Francesco
Let me introduce you to Clara, a local girl from Kirkland who will be one of the four or so representatives out of Quebec vying for the title Miss World Canada at a pageant to be held in Toronto a little later this month. Clara is a 23 year old graduate of John Rennie Sports Etude program, followed by studies at Vanier college and then University of Ottawa with a B.Comm, Marketing in progress. Simultaneously, Clara is attending Algonquin college, where she is on the Dean’s honour list, completing a diploma in Hotel and Tourism- the industry she plans to enter while completing her B. Comm.
Q: It sounds like you have career plans in progress, why did you enter the pageant?
A: I have always loved the pageant experience and would follow the American pageants when I was younger. It is, after all, a competition that demands you perform in a certain context, and calls upon the individual to get out of their comfort zone and have confidence and poise in a very public situation.
Q: In this day and age of feminist movement, and women decrying sexual stereotyping with “Me Too”, how do you feel about posing as a beauty queen?
A: I don’t really think one is related to the other. There is nothing wrong with wanting to present yourself in your best possible way and feel healthy and attractive. The movement and ‘Me too’ relates to women being used in an abusive way by someone more powerful than them, and I am definitely a supporter of those efforts.
Q: The American pageant has recently announced it is doing away with the bathing suit portion of the pageant. Will you have to do a bathing suit competition and how do you feel about it?
A: Yes, the Miss World Canada pageant still includes a bathing suit portion to the competition. It is certainly un-nerving, but so was dancing in a body-suit on stage when I was a dancer at Ballet-Ouest. I think the idea is to present a fit healthy body and to carry yourself with confidence. I hope it will project my platform of fitness and nutrition, especially in children.
Q: Is that the platform you are competing on?
A: Yes, we are required to have a platform and my platform will be towards healthy living; promoting an active lifestyle and reducing childhood and adult obesity. I feel that an active lifestyle should be strongly encouraged as there are many health and social benefits from maintaining one’s health and target weight. Almost everyone is capable of some form of activity and an active lifestyle is shown to reduce stress and the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke in adults. Also, for young people, activity promotes confidence and good muscle development. For these reasons, I think healthy living is very important and should be encouraged as an important objective in life. I would be thrilled to have the opportunity to represent this platform should I be selected at the Miss World Canada Pageant.
Q: What activities have you been involved with to prepare for the pageant?
A: As part of my pageant activities, I am attending various social functions and charity fundraisers. I attended a fundraising breakfast for West Island Palliative Care residence, a BBQ dinner fundraiser for Angels of Mercy, and was thrilled to be driven at the Montreal Canada Day parade in a top down jeep provided by Des Sources Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Fiat. My current mission is to fundraise for the Children’s Wish Foundation. You can see my events and fundraising activities by visiting my facebook web-page at: https://www.facebook.com/missislandofmontrealworld2018/
Q: What does Miss World Canada do?
A: For one, she goes on to represent Canada at the International Miss World pageant. She also will support various charities, initiatives and her platform during her year as the winner.
Q: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
A: It would be very nice if they would vote for me! The list of finalists competing for the Miss World Canada title will be visible for on-line voting the week of July 22 at: http://missworldcanada.net/2018-finalists/