The current Mrs. World Canada, Ashley Callingbull, called Harper out when she won and spoke at the Climate Change March in Ottawa last weekend.  Canada’s current Miss World candidate interviewed and played Chinese dissidents in a recent movie and stood for their rights to free speech.

I have been holding on to petty little prejudices against beauty queens and these women have been blowing my silly little stereotypes out of the water.  I still probably won’t become an avid follower of beauty pagents–so much to do, so little time–but thank you to these women for using the platform they have gained to stand up and give a damn about our world.

Anastasia Lin wrote a brilliant op-ed for the Globe and Mail, calling on Trudeau to ensure that she represents China–here is an excerpt:

I prepared for some of my most recent roles as an actress by spending time with people who have been through China’s forced labour camps, people who had been tortured in unimaginable ways. I got to know their stories, and their pain. They stayed true to their convictions in much more desperate circumstances than I will ever face.

The Chinese government-controlled Global Times declared I must “pay the price” for standing up for human rights in China and face the “consequences of the path chosen based on [my] own values.” Otherwise I won’t be able to “reach the broad mainland market.”

I am worried that Canada has concluded that the consequences of having values are too great, and that speaking up for freedom of belief should only be done if market issues are not at risk.

I prepared for some of my most recent roles as an actress by spending time with people who have been through China’s forced labour camps, people who had been tortured in unimaginable ways. I got to know their stories, and their pain. They stayed true to their convictions in much more desperate circumstances than I will ever face.

If there is one thing I’ve learned from these people, it is that values do not exist if we only uphold them when it is convenient. Rather, it’s when it takes sacrifice and pain that we prove the worth of our principles.

I owe it to these people, and many others, to speak up. I’ve been given a platform to remind the world of their plight. How could I not use it? How could I trade it for a chance at another crown and sash? Read more here.

Impressed by Anastasia?  Sign this petition to demand that Trudeau support Anastasia Lin and that she be allowed a visa to Sanya in Hainan Province by the Chinese government.