I’m not going to shut up’: First Nations woman crowned Mrs. Universe urges Canadians to vote for new PM – National Post

When Ashley Callingbull Burnham entered Miss Universe Canada — her first pageant — she was met with jeers like “What will her talent be? Drinking Lysol?” The sexual abuse survivor won second runner-up and silenced her critics. Now, five years later, the Edmonton-born Enoch Cree woman is Mrs. Universe — the first Canadian and first First Nations woman to win the title of an international pageant that judges contestants on their advocacy record rather than their bikini catwalk (though they only qualify if they’re married). The 25-year-old was crowned in Minsk, Belarus, this weekend. She spoke with the National Post’s Sarah Boesveld.

Q Your win comes amidst a federal election, the first real conversation Canada has had about murdered and missing indigenous women and not long after Idle No More. Do you link the attention you’re getting with what some might call a wave of momentum on these issues?

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