Didsbury Alberta - A Didsbury-area resident who received national attention last year after being dismissed from Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) for posting revealing social media photos and other violations is competing for Miss Canada.
 
OKthePK Joint Bar Editor:  CP sees the dismissal differently.
 
Stephanie Katelnikoff moved to the Didsbury area five years ago after having been born and raised in Calgary.
 
The 28-year-old was fired by CP in November of last year for allegedly violating its code of ethics and Internet and email policy.
 
"I emailed them (Miss Canada officials) ages ago just inquiring," said Katelnikoff.
 
"Recently, CBC and Canadian Press did a story on me being dismissed from my job over social media stuff and modelling photos. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but they actually reached out to me in an email and invited me to attend this event."
 
Katelnikoff will be travelling to Montreal to attend the Miss Canada gala on 3 Mar 2018.
 
The Miss Canada contest is open to females from across the country aged 19-30.
 
The candidates are judged on a number of factors including general attitude, participation, spirit of good-companionship, spirit of team, public presentation, ease of stage, and more.
 
"I was a little hesitant about it at first but I decided to go for it anyways, and I accepted the invite," she said.
 
"It's way out of the realm of things I'm used to so it should be pretty interesting."
 
Katelnikoff has not competed in any other pageants or similar events.
 
"I think a lot of the other contestants have experience in pageants and competitions like this," she said.
 
"I'll probably be the black sheep. I'm not the beauty pageant type. I'm kind of a tomboy and partially covered in tattoos. Probably not what most people think about when they think of Miss Canada. But I'll take the opportunity to represent that side of the female population."
 
Katelnikoff said the judges are not only looking for beauty but also grace and elegance.
 
"That'll be interesting too," she said.
 
"I may actually be the least graceful person on the face of this country."
 
As far as goals heading into the pageant, Katelnikoff joked her only goal is "not falling on my face."
 
She is also looking forward to becoming well known for something other than being fired from CP.
 
Katelnikoff was a train conductor for CP and had worked for the company for a couple of years when she was dismissed.
 
Her story was covered across Canada by several media outlets as well as numerous websites such as Huffington Post and Maxim.
 
"I got pulled in for an investigation over my social media conduct and eventually ended up getting dismissed over that," she said.
 
"They included a bunch of screen shots from my personal social media accounts and my modelling social media accounts in the investigation package. My union filed a grievance and it'll probably be two years before I'll see an arbitrator over that."
 
Katelnikoff feels that if someone is posting something illegal or immoral on social media they should be held accountable by their employers, but she doesn't think all the things CP cited in her dismissal notice affected her ability to effectively do her job.
 
A release from CP dated 24 Jan 2018, stated, "Railway safety is a top priority at CP. Ms. Katelnikoff's termination related to her decision to post photos of herself in unsafe situations on railway property and equipment, committing railway safety violations, along with disparaging remarks regarding the company."
 
Her termination was not about her posting of personal photos or information per se that were not related in some way to railway safety and CP, officials said.
 
Katelnikoff was also fired from CP in December 2014 following a derailment near Banff.
 
After a 14 month arbitration process she returned to the job before being dismissed again in November 2017 for the alleged social media/safety violations.
 
Currently, Katelnikoff is living just outside of Didsbury and working for an industrial coating company.
 
Craig Lindsay.