The reigning Miss Canada Plus says she was dumped as a judge in a Toronto beauty pageant because in her spare time she reads tarot cards.

Stephanie Conover volunteers with several charities; she also occasionally reads tarot cards and practices reiki, a traditional Japanese healing system.

But when she told the Miss Toronto Tourism Pageant about her hobbies, she received a letter saying "tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world.

"We hope that Stephanie Conover will turn from these belief systems and will repent from her practice of them."

"It's understandable that people are scared of what they don't understand," Conover said. "But at the same time, if you are promoting a pageant that promotes Toronto tourism, uses that in the name and then say that they stand for multiculturalism and diversity..."

"We never said anything bad about her," said Warren Booth, a member of the pageant's board of directors.

Booth said the pageant feared Conover would consult tarot cards to pick a winner.

"We want to be in line with God's word when it comes to this type of activity and this isn't anywhere near God's word," he said.

Miss Toronto Tourism doesn't receive funding from any level of government and has no connection whatsoever to Tourism Toronto, the official marketing group hired to promote the city.

Booth claims the pageant doesn't have a religious slant but has every right to reject anyone for any reason.

"In our eyes it's not an appropriate hobby," he said.

Conover isn't impressed. 

"If you are running an organization, yes, you have the right to stipulate who can and who can't participate, but at the same time there's nothing in it that says it is the Miss Christian Toronto pageant."

Conover adds that if the pageant sees the error of its ways, she would still act as a judge.