A 20-year-old recipient of a Lieutenant Governor Award for more than 400 hours of community service seeks to become the second Jewish woman to earn the title of “Miss Canada.”
Toronto-born Ruby Grinberg, 20, will compete in the 2024 Miss Canada competition on May 16 in Montreal as one of the 21 finalists. She just completed her bachelor’s degree in political science as part of a dual-degree program and is planning to start in business management studies for a master’s degree, both at the University of British Columbia.
Well-versed in public speaking and debate coaching, she volunteers in her community and seeks to raise awareness about cancer, noting that her mother is a two-time breast-cancer survivor.
The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, she acknowledges being a bit cautious about emphasizing her Jewish identity in the competition. Still, she told “The CJN Daily,” the podcast for Canada Jewish News, that her experiences in her college classes have prepared her for the potential hate she could receive.
In 1961, Grinberg’s aunt’s sister, Connie Gail Feller, became the first Jewish woman to win the competition. Since then, the pageant has become more fashionable, so to speak, focusing more on career goals and outside activities rather than beauty and bathing suits.
In her answer to the question of why she deserves a vote, Grinberg wrote: “I want to use the ‘Miss Canada’ platform not just for myself, but to amplify the voices of those who feel unheard, and to inspire them to find their passion and make a difference in their own communities.”
