Coming from a small town, it is important for Andréane Blais to volunteer and be involved in her community.
"If there weren't any volunteers, there wouldn't be anything going on in the community," she says. "And we're the future generation and we need to participate, so in the years to come there's still something out there."
Blais, 23, was born and raised in Mattice. She has been involved in her community since 2012 and has done over 2,000 hours of volunteering. Her work includes helping at the annual winter carnival in Mattice and teaching dancing to kids.
She founded a self-growth program in 2016 aimed to promote natural beauty, leadership and positive body image among young girls. As a francophone, Blais says it was important for her to run the program in French.
"I grew up in a French community and a lot of the things that I could do was only in English. So, I wanted (the girls) to have this opportunity to do something like this in their language," she says.
For next year, she is hoping to turn the program into a weekend-long event with activities and workshops, without the pageant component. She also wants to expand the program to other communities, offer it in both languages and have the event open to boys as well.
Over the years, Blais has raised more than $7,500 for various charities liked Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Northern Cancer Foundation and Hearst CT scan fundraiser. A portion of the funds was raised through her program and the rest was from her personal efforts.
Blais has also been involved in pageant competitions since 2014. As a 16-year-old at the time, she says she was very shy and had a low self-esteem but then she and her sister decided to enter the Miss North Ontario pageant.
“I had to get out of my comfort zone a lot, like times 100 of what I’m used to,” she recalls. As the competition was in English, it added up a lot of stress for Blais, who is a francopone.
Last year, she went back to Miss North Ontario pageant and placed fourth out of 42 contestants. She was also a runner-up for the Public Speaking Award.
“To me, the runner-up for public speaking was one of the biggest accomplishments because I was shy all my life. And to get that award meaning I can speak well in public, that was just like I’ve grown so much since I started pageantry.”
With her experience in several local competitions, she decided to try herself in a bigger event that would be bilingual and also align with her values.
So, she went to Miss Canada 2020 in March where she ended up among Top 5 finalists and was awarded the People’s Choices Award. She got to experience Montreal for the first time and met people from all over Canada.
She says it took her less time to prepare for Miss Canada as the majority of judging criteria is based on the contestants’ attitude during the event and activities.
She says her goal was to make it to Top 5 and she knew she had the potential to do it. So, when it was announced she was among Top 5, her first thought was, “Yes, I made it.” Winning the People’s Choices Award also came as a surprise to her.
“This experience has been more than I could’ve dreamed of,” she says. “I’m so blown by all the love and support that I got throughout my journey to Miss Canada and I’m still in shock.”
She’s going to represent Miss Northern Ontario at the Canadian Ambassadors Pageant which was scheduled to take place this July but was postponed to next year due to the pandemic. It will be Blais’ eighth competition.
Every pageant has something different to offer, and although she expected the national event like Miss Canada to be more intense and competitive, it was “chill” and contestants were friendly.
“It was like a week of getting to know other women and what they believe in, their cause and have fun during different activities.”
There are many stereotypes about pageants, Blais says, but they have evolved and are not about being “girly” anymore. Now, she says t’s about what contestants have to offer in their communities and what they do to make a change and empower people.
For girls who want to try themselves in pageants, Blais advises not to be afraid and says there’s nothing to lose, just “things to grown and learn from.”
“You don’t grow if you don’t do things that scare you. I have that mindset with everything that I do now,” she says. “It’s a great experience. You meet people from everywhere, you get out in your community.”
With a degree from Laurentian University, Blais is now working as a social worker at Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l’Ontario. She lives in Mattice now but will be moving to Kapuskasing for work.
“I like the job that I do because I work with youth. I work in a high school. With COVID, it’s been challenging for the last semester but I love that I get to be a support for the youth … and that I can be there for them, to support them in their journey in their discovery of who they are.”
When asked if she would call herself a feminist, Blais says “yes”.
“I do believe we can do anything we set our mind to. There are a lot of stereotypes regarding the word ‘feminist,’” she says explaining just because she’s a woman it doesn’t mean she can be restricted in what she can do. “I can do anything that anyone can do in this world.”
She also likes expressing herself through photography, dancing and writing, and loves anything related to art and event planning.
