Bezanson teen to compete in Miss Teenage Canada pageant

Ouellet-Wilson also feels she’s a bit of an un-expected pageant candidate.

“I just thought it would be fun. I’m a country girl and I play sports. I’m like the last person you’d think of to go in a pageant.”

The Calgary competition took place over two days. On the first day, judges scored competitors on their interviews and a swimsuit portion. The second and final day was show day, where judges scored on evening gowns and cocktail dresses.

“Just being on the stage is really scary, looking out at all those people but its also exciting because you know that their eyes are on you and they came here to watch you. It’s exciting but scary at the same time.”

On how she gets the courage to perform on stage, she notes, “I’ve gotten a lot of confidence just from playing sports, playing in front of people, playing against people and I used to do theatre and acting.”

Ouellet-Wilson was awarded a crown on stage at the show. After, she says she was also awarded several giftbags filled with goodies and of course, her Miss Teen Northern Alberta sash which just recently arrived in the mail.

“We all went up on stage for the crowing process and they call names one by one. They called lowest to highest sort of thing. I just remember I was so nervous, I had so many butterflies and then they called my number and I just raced up to the front and I was so ready to get the little crown that they gave us. It was so exciting,” says Ouellet-Wilson.

Photo/ Mia Ouellet-Wilson

Next, she’s going to be taking a trip to Toronto, Ontario to compete at the National Miss Teenage Canada Pageant. This will be the first time the Bezanson native has been to Toronto (other than a visit to the airport).

When asked how she plans to represent Grande Prairie and Northern Alberta in the big city, she says, “When I get sponsors, I’m hoping to get local Grande Prairie sponsors, local Bezanson sponsors because that’s where I’m from and I’m hoping to get stickers or things that I can sew onto my sash to represent them.”

Competition entry fees help fund accommodations and meals, but Ouellet-Wilson and her family are still expected to cover travel costs. In order to help with hefty travel charges, she will be looking for sponsors to get her to the big show.

In addition, she will also be creating an Ad Book of all local businesses that sponsor her. An advertisement of each business will be included within the book, which will be on display at the Toronto pageant.

Pageant competitors are required to take on a platform of interest to speak about at the show. The platform is of the competitors own personal choosing and Ouellet-Wilson says that she’s decided her platform will be environmental issues. She says she wants to highlight, “the harm that we are causing to our environment.”

Her passion for the cause derived from an experience she had at school when her teacher, Ms. Owens of Bezanson School, was teaching an Environmental Chemistry Unit in class. After learning about pollution and watching videos in class about the issue, she says she was inspired to take a stand against it.

“This is a real issue and it really needs awareness. We need to spread awareness for it.” She elaborates, “I just need people to do the little things. Take shorter showers, don’t get bags for your groceries, just stuff like that. Do the little things and it will help the big things.”

The 2019 Miss Teenage Canada pageant takes place in Toronto from July 9 – 14, 2019.

by Courtney Almeida

Bezanson teen to compete in Miss Teenage Canada pageant

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