Fort Langley's Tara Teng used her Miss BC title to spotlight the issue of human trafficking and now that she's been named Miss Canada, she has a national platform for social issues. And she plans to use it.

"I am so excited for this new opportunity ahead of me," she said. "Not only do I have the honour and privilege of representing my beautiful home of Canada to the world, I now have a larger platform to speak from. My goal as Miss Canada is unchanging from my mission as Miss British Columbia."

The current Miss BC 2011 and the oldest daughter of Terry and Lori Teng of Fort Langley was crowned Miss Canada 2011 in a ceremony Jan. 29 in Montreal.

The Trinity Western University student was vocal about the evils of human trafficking before she won the Miss BC crown and after. She even had an opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the issue. Teng is also organizing the upcoming Freedom Week, March 6-13, to increase awareness.

Before she was crowned Miss BC last summer, she posted to her Facebook page her thoughts on what it means to be "royalty," a term used in pageants.

She takes inspiration from the likes of Queen Esther, in the Bible, Queen Raina of Jordan and the late Diana, Princess of Wales because they devoted themselves to helping others.

"Being a princess is not about clothes, jewels or attending fancy galas; it is the way the you choose to live your life - using influence to inspire, challenge and impact the world around you," Tara wrote.

The Miss BC pageant takes place each summer in Fort Langley. Applications are being accepted at www.missbc.ca for the next event.

hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com