Deane grabs first runner-up in Miss World Canada pageant

A young woman of Vincentian parentage is the first runner-up in the Miss World Canada 2012 pageant.{{more}}

Lisa Deane, 21 years old, daughter of Vincentian parents Leonard Deane and Cecile Castello-DaSilva, represented her hometown Aurora, Ontario, in the pageant which was held on May 13.

During the Miss World Canada competition, Lisa made references to the time she spent in St Vincent and the Grenadines with her parents.

Inspired by carnival revellers, she designed a leather maple leaf costume for the International Costume category. For her talent, she composed and performed a steel pan medley, entitled “An Ageless Canadian Love Song”.

Deane attended the St Vincent Girls’ High School and is a member of the graduating class of 2006.

She was sponsored in the competition by local company Mountain Top Natural Springs Ltd., which is headed by her stepfather, Kenneth Da Silva.

After the pageant, Deane commented “I entered Miss World Canada not only as a woman desirous of being a Canadian beauty queen, but also as an investigative journalist in search of an answer to a nagging question: Why, in more than half a century of competing, has Canada never won a Miss World crown? Fresh out of my University of Toronto, St George postgraduate journalism course, I was eager to go where, due to the 17-24 age constraints, most established journalists cannot. My experience enabled me to write an article about the operational dynamics of the national pageant and how they relate to Canada’s stakes in the international crown.”

Deane also said that finishing as first runner-up is a “gratifying personal achievement and a pleasing start to my further endeavours in pageantry and in journalism.”

The pageant, which took place at the River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond, British Colombia, was won by Tara Teng of British Colombia.

Deane competed with 23 other young women from across Canada for the coveted Miss World Canada title and for the opportunity to move on to the Miss World 2012 pageant, which will be held in Ordos, China on August 18.