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News & Announcements
(last updated on September 6, 2023) |
Welcome Back!
Hello to all members and debaters!
Welcome to the 2023-24 QSDA debating season. I hope that everyone is settling back well into the routine of the school year, and that everyone is getting ready for a wonderful year of competitive debating. Over the next few weeks, we will be setting dates for tournaments, confirming membership, and preparing for the first tournaments of the year.
As always, be sure to consult the calendar regularly for updates to the schedule, and I hope to see you all soon.
Sincerely,
Jon Bracewell
President, QSDA
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Welcome Back!
Hello to everyone and welcome to the 2022-23 QSDA debating season.
This year, we are happy to be returning to full in-person debating with all of our teams from around the province. We are working hard on a schedule that will combine competitive and training events throughout the year.
We are also excited to announce that the QSDA will be hosting the Canadian High-School British Parliamentary Debating Championships at Selwyn House School in November of this year.
As usual, please consult this page as well as our calendar (sidebar) for training and tournament dates.
And as always, if your school is not a QSDA member, and is interested in setting-up a competitive debating club, please do not hesitate to contact me, Jon Bracewell, at bracewellj@selwyn.ca.
I wish you all excellent debating, and I look forward to meeting all of our debaters and coaches at events throughout the year.
Jon Bracewell
President, QSDA |
Summer Camps
As the school year ends, and as in-person activities finally start to happen again, we are pleased to announce the return of our Summer Camps section. Over the next little while, we will be posting opportunities for learning about debate over the summer. Some of the camps are run by school clubs, while others are run by private companies. Hopefully, you can find one that is right for you, and that will provide an excellent start to next year's debating season! |
October 1st Senior Tournament at Alexander von Humboldt
In a small, but important event, 12 teams came to AvH last Friday to compete in the QSDA's first in-person tournament since February of 2020. Thank you to all of our coaches and debaters. Special congratulations go out to Jake Surry and Alex Laurin from LCC for their 1st Place finish at the tournament. |
Welcome Back Message for the 2021-22 School Year
Welcome back to all of our members, and welcome to all debaters in Quebec and around the country.
I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable summer. The QSDA is once again ready to start organizing tournaments and supporting clubs that have had a challenging time over the last year.
To that end, we will continue to operate online tournaments in order to increase accessibility, and to offer workshops on the various styles of debate for our community.
We are also excited to be getting back to in-person debating tournaments! All tournaments will be run in accordance with Quebec COVID regulations, and we are committed to making sure that students, coaches, judges, and volunteers are as safe as possible. For now, this means that all debaters and attendees for in-person tournaments must have documented proof being adequately vaccinated. Details on the documentation required will be forthcoming: please consult the COVID-19 Policies section of the QSDA website for up to date information.
Please check our calendar for regular event updates, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions, concerns, or if you want to (re)start a debate team at your school.
I hope to see you all at debating events in the near future.
Sincerely:
Jon Bracewell
President, QSDA |
Summer Debate Camps
Summer is almost upon us. During the summer months, many institutions and companies across Canada offer debating camps where high school students can learn and practice with some of the best debating coaches in the country. If you are interested in attending one of these camps, please consult with our Summer Camps section. |
French National Debating Championships
Congratulations to Bianca Maselli and Emma Asheghian from The Study for winning the 2021 French National Debating Championships! Thank you to Nicole Ratti and Chris George from OSDU for hosting the tournament. |
Prepared Motion for Senior Nationals
This will be the prepared motion for the first two rounds of the Senior Canadian National Debating Championship.
Each team will need to prepare both sides.
This House Prefers a world without political parties, where all candidates run as independents
A note on This House Prefers (THP) motions: The motion is asking both teams to imagine a world in which the motion is already in effect and has always been in effect, versus the world as it currently is. Both teams are trying to prove that their world is preferable to the world of the other team. It is a small but important difference from a straight policy motion (eg: this house would ban political parties), in that it is asking you to clash about how the worlds would differ, as opposed to clashing about implementation.
Good luck to everyone, and see you in a month.
Jon Bracewell
President, QSDA
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Welcome Back to the 2020-21 School Year
It is the pleasure of the QSDA to welcome all of our members, students, and the debating community at large back to school. For some of us, that means returning to physical buildings with many new policies and restrictions in place. For others, it means learning online from home. This year, the debating community faces new challenges as we do everything we can to ensure the safety of all of our members. Fortunately, last year provided a template for moving our community online. While online debating will never be able to fully replace the social nature of in-person debating, it offers opportunities for accessibility and allows us to continue to develop in the activity that we have all come to love.
Most tournaments and practices will probably be online this year, but as we have seen, policies and procedures can change overnight. The QSDA will strive to be as up-to-date as possible, and will never compromise on the safety of our community.
To our members and debaters, please check the calendar regularly, and see the wide variety of online events that are already being organized for this year. To members of the community who are organizing tournaments, please send us the information for your tournaments so that we can publicize them to our members and debaters.
We hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable return to education this year, and we look forward to seeing you at our events.
Sincerely,
Jon Bracewell
President, QSDA |
To all QSDA Members
Over the last week, many of the tournaments that our members participate in have been cancelled or indefinitely postponed. Now is a time of adjustment for our debating community. Hopefully our clubs are able to meet and practice online in order to keep our skills sharp, and our debaters interested. As this pandemic continues, debating institutions, including the QSDA, are looking into online debate tournaments as an alternative to our normal tournaments. There are some that I am starting to post in our calendar section.
Hopefully everyone is safe, and I look forward to seeing you all (online or otherwise if possible), soon.
Jonathan Bracewell
President, QSDA |
Senior National Debating Tournament Canceled
We have just received word that the Senior National Debating Tournament has been canceled due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
To those who have qualified for the tournament, I am so sorry that it has come to this. We do not know if it will be rescheduled, but the hosts have said that they may not host anything until late May.
At this time, we do not know about the Team Canada Qualifier, Junior Nats, or any other tournament. I will keep every member of the debating community up to date as news comes up.
At times like this, it is important to listen to the experts, and to follow their recommendations. I would like to thank everyone at St. John's - Ravenscourt and Balmoral Hall schools for making a sensible decision and keeping us informed.
I hope to see everyone out at events again when this is all over.
Sincerely,
Jon Bracewell
President, QSDA |
Welcome to the 2019-20 Debating Season
Hello everyone and welcome back to another year of debating in Quebec. I hope that everyone has had a restful summer, and that we are ready for a new year of debating competition on all levels. Over the next few weeks, the schedule for the year will be coming together as we balance our own tournaments with those of the National organizations and universities. There are many opportunities for Quebec debaters, and I encourage all students, coaches, and clubs to participate as much as possible. Debating in Quebec has been growing over the past few years into a small-but-mighty circuit. Let’s continue to grow and compete together. As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing you at our events.
Sincerely:
Jonathan Bracewell
President, QSDA
bracewellj@selwyn.ca |
QSDA Provincial Championships
On February 15th and 16th, the QSDA Provincial Championships was hosted by Vincent Massey Collegiate. The tournament included six rounds of debating, and both the junior and senior provincials were held at the same time. On Friday, there were two prepared rounds. The seniors debated the topic: “This House regrets the notwithstanding clause” and the juniors debated: “This House as Quebec, would dissolve school boards.” On Saturday, there were four impromptu rounds. The Junior champions were the ECS team of Penelope Siozos and Yuran Wang. The other teams in the top six that qualified for Nationals were from The Study, LCC, Selwyn House and Royal West. Cameron O’Hare from Royal West was the top speaker and Alexandre Laurin from LCC was the 2nd place speaker. In the senior division, the provincial champions were Matthew Anzarouth and David Surry from LCC. Matthew Anzarouth was the top senior speaker at the tournament and Isaac Cape from Selwyn House was the second place speaker. The other teams in the top 6 also came from Selwyn House, Royal West and Vincent Massey. Special thanks to all of the coaches and judges, and of course all the debaters who attended for their hard work. |
Canadian British Parliamentary Debating Championships
This year’s annual Canadian British Parliamentary Debating Championships was kindly hosted by The York School in Toronto, Ontario. Forty-eight teams from across Canada participated in the Senior category and 20 teams participated in the Junior category. A total of 9 teams from Quebec participated this year, including students from LCC, Selwyn House, ECS, and Vincent Massey College. In the Senior Division, the winning team was Max Rosen and Diba Heydary from Ontario, and the top speaker of the tournament was Diba Heydary. In the Junior Division, the winning team was Angie Lei and Heather Li from Ontario, and the top speaker of the tournament was Andrew Shi. In terms of how Quebec did at the tournament, our top team in the Senior Division was Gabriel Di Bert and Joshua Cohen from Selwyn House coming in 2nd place. Our top speaker was Matthew Anzarouth from LCC who placed 6th overall. In the Junior Division the top team was Annabel Simons and Zainab Ahmed from ECS coming in 9th place. Our top speaker was Penelope Siozos from ECS who placed 15th overall. Congratulations to all our Quebec teams for a great tournament! And a big thank you to Mr. George, Nicole Ratti and The York School for hosting a fantastic tournament! |
Aristotle Cup Tournament
The annual "Aristotle Cup" tournament was hosted by Marianopolis on Sunday, October 28th. This year’s tournament had a great turnout with 30 teams in attendance from 9 different Montreal schools. In the end, two teams from LCC competed in the final, Matthew Anzarouth and Felix St.Onge Tavchandijan vs. Ella Waxman and Andrew Vandenbussche. After a well-fought debate, the team of Matthew and Felix came out victorious. The top speaker at the tournament was Massimo DiLullo from Vincent Massey Collegiate. Thanks to Marianopolis for hosting a very well organized and fun tournament. |
McGill University British Parliamentary Tournament
The annual McGill University British Parliamentary Tournament took place on October 19th and 20th, 2018. This tournament was open to both junior and senior debaters, and in total had an impressive 192 students in attendance. The 96 teams from across Canada participated in 6 rounds of debate. The top 8 teams participated in open semi-finals and the top four teams participated in the open final round. In addition the top junior teams participated in an open final as well.
The teams that made it into the senior finals were Hybrid PY, White Oaks CS, Selwyn CR, and Westfield HM. In a close round, the team from Hybrid PY was victorious. In addition, the top speaker at the tournament was Naomi Panovka. Congratulations to all debaters who participated and a big thank you to McGill for hosting another great tournament. |
QSDA British Parliamentary Tournament
The first ever QSDA British Parliamentary Tournament took place on September 29th, 2018 and was kindly hosted by Selwyn House School. This tournament, open to both junior and senior debaters, and was created in order to be the qualifier for the Canadian British Parliamentary Championships (formerly known as the Oxford Cup). Twenty teams participated in 4 rounds of debate and the top 4 teams participated in an open final round. The teams that made it into the finals were: Joshua Cohen and Gabriel Di Bert (from Selwyn House), Zoe Heffring and Massimo DiLullo (from Vincent Massey), Alexandro Koutroubis and Andrew Vandenbussche (from LCC), and Sasha Klein and Cameron O’Hare (from Royal West Academy). In a close round, the team from Selwyn House was victorious. In addition, the top speaker at the tournament was Joshua Cohen from (Selwyn House), and the top Junior Speakers were Sasha Klein from Royal West, and Annabel Simons from ECS. Congratulations to all debaters who qualified to attend the British Parliamentary Championships which will be taking place in late November. |
Members of the QSDA:
Welcome back to a new year of debating! I hope that everyone had an excellent and relaxing summer. We are laying the groundwork for another year of competitive high-school debating in Quebec. Our calendar is as full as ever with local school tournaments, university club tournaments, provincial tournaments, and national tournaments all vying for space in the schedule. It is my hope that everyone is preparing for the very best of competition. In addition to our practice tournaments and provincial championships, the QSDA is proud to be hosting the Junior National Debating Championships at Lower Canada College. We hope that every member of our community will be able to participate in some way this year. Over the next few weeks, the final schedule will be coming together. I hope to see you all during the 2018-19 debating season!
-Jonathan Bracewell, President |
Quebec Junior and Senior Provincial Championships
On February 17th and 18th, the QSDA Provincials were hosted as a two-day event, with six rounds of debating, and both the junior and senior provincials were held at the same time. This tournament was hosted by Lower Canada College. On Friday, there were two prepared rounds. The seniors debated the topic: “This House Would repeal Bill C-51 (anti-terrorism bill)” and the juniors debated: “This House as Canada, would reinstate government funding for political parties based on their performance in the last election.” On Saturday, there were four impromptu rounds. The Junior champions were the Selwyn House team of Josh Cohen and Gabriel Di Bert. The other teams in the top five that qualified for Nationals were from Vincent Massey and LCC. Massimo Di Lullo from Vincent Massey was the top speaker and Ella Waxman from LCC was the 2nd place speaker. In the senior division, the provincial champions were Jarren Fefer and Nabeel Ahmed from Selwyn House. Jarren Fefer was the top senior speaker at the tournament and Aissa Guindo from LCC was the second place speaker. The other teams in the top 5 also came from LCC, Selwyn House, and Vincent Massey. Special thanks to all of the coaches and judges! |
Report from University of Ottawa HS Tournament
The University of Ottawa held one of its largest high school tournaments, and 22 teams from Quebec were among the 58 in attendance. One Quebec team, from Selwyn House, the team of Jarren Fefer and Nabeel Ahmed, made it to the final but unfortunately lost in a heated round against a team from Lisgar High School. In addition, the top speaker from Quebec at the tournament was Aissa Guindo from LCC, who was awarded 5th place speaker. Other awards to be commended are the 6th place speaker award given to Jarren Fefer and 10th place speaker award given to Nabeel Ahmed, both from Selwyn House. Congratulations to all the Quebec teams in attendance for their great showing at this tournament. |
AVH Junior Debating Tournament
On Friday, January 27th, Alexander Von Humboldt school held their first Junior Debating tournament! In total,12 teams attended from ECS, Selwyn House, AVH and WIC. Students debated in 2 prepared rounds and one impromptu round. The students on the winning team of the tournament were Joshua Cohen and Gabriel DiBert from Selwyn House School. In addition, Gabriel DiBert was awarded top speaker at the tournament. Thank you to AVH for hosting a great tournament! |
Report from Queen's
The Queen's Tournament took place from January 13th to the 15th, 2017. A total of 114 teams were in attendance from across Canada. Of the 120 teams, Quebec was represented by several teams from LCC, ECS, and Selwyn House School. The team of Joshua Cohen and Gabriel Di Bert from Selwyn House School qualified for the Junior Finals. Although they didn’t win their round, they put up a great fight against the team from St. John’s-Ravenscourt school from Manitoba. In addition, Lauren Kim from ECS won 3rd place Junior speaker at the tournament and Quebec’s top overall speaker was Aissa Guindo who came in 24th out of 226 speakers. Congratulations to Queen's for running an outstanding event! |
Loyola QSDA Junior Debating Tournament

On Monday, November 15th, Loyola held the first Junior Debating tournament of the year. In total, 18 teams attended from Loyola, Kuper Academy, WIC, Selwyn House, ECS, LCC, Royal West, Alexander Von Humboldt and Vincent Massey. Students debated in 2 prepared rounds related to lowering the voting age to 16 years old and one impromptu round. The students on the winning team of the tournament were Keith Moussa and Asghar Taqui. In addition, Matthew Anzarouth (LCC) and Asghar Taqvi (Royal West) were the top speakers at the tournament. |
Report from Dawson High School Tournament
On November 5th, 2016 Dawson College was kind enough to host a fantastic tournament, which took place at Lower Canada College with the support of Chris George. There were a total of 30 teams in attendance, and they debated four impromptu rounds. The 2 teams that made it into the finals were the teams of Dante Ventulieri and Mia Del Negro from Vincent Massey College and Jarren Fefer and Nabeel Ahmed from Selwyn House. In the end, the team from Vincent Massey was victorious. In addition, the top speaker of the tournament was Jarren Fefer from Selwyn House. A big thank you to the organizers, Zachary Bensemana and Olivia Stein, as well as to all of the students who volunteered to judge on Saturday. |
Report from McGill Debating Union BP High School Championship
This year’s annual British Parliamentary tournament at McGill University drew 100 teams from across Canada. Congratulations to the McGill Debating Union for running another great event! A total of 16 teams from Quebec participated this year, including students from LCC, Selwyn House, ECS, PCHS and The Study. The top Quebec speaker at the tournament was
Aissa Guindo from LCC, who placed 23rd out of the 200 debaters in attendance. Also, the top team from Quebec was Aissa Guindo and Julia Leb from LCC who placed 13th. This tournament was the qualifier for the Oxford Cup, which will be taking place in Winnipeg in November. The top 6 Quebec teams from the McGill tournament qualify to attend this event. In order, the 6 teams that qualified are the team of Julia Leb and Aissa Guindo from LCC, the team of Nabeel Ahmed and Jarren Feffer from Selwyn House, the team of Sebastien Lopez and Noa Taran from LCC, the team of Madeleine Bienvenu and Alexa Shamie also from LCC, and Lauren Kim and Frances Chambers from ECS. Congratulations to all our Quebec teams for a great tournament! |
Royal West QSDA Senior Debating Tournament
On October 14th, Royal West held the first QSDA Senior Debating tournament of the year. In total, 22 teams attended from: Alexander Von Humboldt Schule, Selwyn House, ECS, LCC, Royal West, Trafalgar, The Study, Loyola, PCHS, and Vincent Massey. Students debated in 2 prepared rounds of debating and 1 impromptu round in the style of Canadian Parliamentary Debate. The students on the winning team of the tournament were Julia Leb and Sabrina Segal from LCC. In addition, Julia Leb was awarded top speaker at the tournament. |
 ECS Junior Debating Tournament
On March 16th, ECS held a St. Patrick’s Day themed Junior Debating tournament. In total, 16 teams attended from WIC, Selwyn House, ECS, LCC, St. Georges and Vincent Massey. Students debated in 3 impromptu rounds. The students on the winning team of the tournament were Zoe Heffring and Mia Delnegro from Vincent Massey. In addition, Zoe Heffring was awarded top speaker at the tournament. |
QSDA Provincial Championships at LCC
On February 19th and 20th, the QSDA Provincials were hosted as a two-day event, with six rounds of debating, and both the junior and senior provincials were held at the same time. This tournament was hosted by Lower Canada College. On Friday, there were two prepared rounds. The seniors debated the topic: “This House Would require judges to be selected by election in Canada.” The juniors debated: “This House Would privatize Canada Post. On Saturday, there were four impromptu rounds. The Junior champions were the ECS team of Frances Chambers and Tara Mintzberg. The other teams in the top five that qualified for Nationals were from Selwyn House, ECS, Vincent Massey, and LCC. Lauren Kim from ECS was the top speaker and Alexa Shamie from LCC was the 2nd place speaker. In the senior division, the provincial champions were Michael DiGiorgio and Dylan Theriault-Harris from LCC, who were also the top 2 speakers at the tournament. The other teams in the top 5 also came from LCC, Selwyn House, and Royal West. Special thanks to all of the coaches and judges!
  
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 Report from the Senior National Public Speaking Competition
Congratulations to Rachel McKenzie of St. George's School. Rachel won the Interpretive Reading Category of the Senior National Public Speaking Competition in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She read from The Kite Runner. |
Report from Marianopolis Aristotle Cup
The annual "Aristotle Cup" tournament was hosted by Marianopolis on Saturday, November 7th. There were a total of 32 teams in attendance, and they debated four impromptu rounds. Two teams from LCC made it to the open final round. In the end, the team of Riley Cohen and Foster Salpeter defeated the team of Joseph Wiltzer and Michael Di Giorgio. In addition, the top speaker of the tournament was Michael Di Giorgio from LCC. |
QSDA Junior Tournament at Kuper Academy
On Friday, October 30th, the QSDA held its first Junior tournament of the year. It was a competitive tournament showcasing the future of debating in Quebec. After two prepared rounds and one impromptu round, the results were as follows: The Selwyn House team of Felix St. Onge-Tavchandjian and Gabriel Trottenberg took first place, with other Selwyn House teams finishing in 2nd and 3rd places. Joshua Cohen from Selwyn House was first place speaker. Thank you to the team at Kuper for making it a great day. |
Report from McGill High School Tournament
This year’s annual British Parliamentary tournament at McGill University drew 103 teams from across Canada. Congratulations to the McGill Debating Union for running another great event! A total of 13 teams from Quebec participated this year, including students from LCC, Selwyn House, ECS, and Kuper Academy. The top Quebec speaker at the tournament was Michael Di Giorgio from LCC, who placed 12th out of the 207 debaters in attendance. Also, two teams from LCC made it to the hidden quarter final round. The team of Joseph Wiltzer and Julia Leb placed 12th at the tournament and the team of Dylan Theriault-Harris and Michael Di Goeorgio placed 15th. The winners of the tournament were Rory Flyn and Alex Wu of the Sacred Heart/Northern Hybrid team. Last but not least, the ECS team of Lauren Kim and Olivia Anderson, were the 3rd place Junior Team at the tournament and as a result, made it into the Junior Final. This tournament was the qualifier for the Oxford Cup, which will be taking place in Calgary in November. The top 6 Quebec teams from the McGill tournament qualify to attend this event. Three teams from LCC qualified, the team of Julia Leb and Joseph Wiltzer, the team of Dylan Theriault-Harris and Michael Di Giorgio, and the team of Matthew Tabet and Zac Bensemana. From Selwyn House School, the teams of Nabeel Ahmed and Jarren Fefer and Felix St. Onge and Gabriel Trottenberg qualified. Also, the team of Olivia Anderson and Lauren Kim from ECS school also qualified. Congratulations to all our Quebec teams for a great tournament! |
 Stanstead Debate Tournament
On a brilliant Sunday at Stanstead College, eighteen teams competed in the first QSDA tournament of the year. In the end, Marissa Hatzegeorgeou from ECS was the first-place speaker, and the tournament was won by Jarren Fefer and Nabeel Ahmed from Selwyn House. Congratulations to all debaters and thank you to Audrey Hamilton and the staff at Stanstead College. |
Welcome Back
Hello debaters and coaches of the QSDA, and welcome to the 2015-16 debating season. We are looking forward to seeing you all at events throughout the year.
Over the next few days, I will be updating the calendar section of the website, so please check back frequently.
Whether you are a long-time member of the QSDA, or looking to start a debating club at your school, please feel free to check the Debating Resources section on the website for information about debating and public speaking.
You can also follow us on Twitter via the link above.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the debates this year.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Bracewell, President, QSDA |
Report from Junior Nationals
The Junior Nationals were held in Winnipeg this year, with a total of 54 teams participating. Participants had 3 fun-filled days of debating, bowling, and touring of the newly opened Human Rights Museum. Many thanks go out the organizers, especially John Robinson, Carissa Nikkel, Andrew Kaplan, and Carla King. The winning team was from Upper Canada College in Ontario consisting of David Niddam-Dent and Adam Rothman, who defeated the team of Cecilia White and Gabriel Duguay from Nova Scotia in the finals. Quebec was represented by 5 teams from 5 different schools: ECS, Selwyn House, Royal West, Kuper Academy, and Trafalgar. The top Quebec team was Jarren Fefer and Nabeel Ahmed from Selwyn House who won 3 of their rounds and the top Quebec speaker was Jarren Fefer. |
Report from Senior Nationals
The Senior Nationals were held in Toronto this year, with a total of 52 teams participating. Thanks to the wonderful hosts at UTS, and to key organizers Steven Penner and Amy Robichaud. The winning team, for the second year in a row, was that of Lloyd Lyall and Samantha Starkey from West Point Grey Academy in British Columbia. They defeated a team from Manitoba in a tough final round. Quebec was represented by a total of 6 teams, 4 from LCC, one from ECS, and one from Loyola. Congratulations to Michael Di Giorgio for being the top speaker from Quebec, coming in 33rd out of 104 debaters. |
Report from University of Ottawa EDS High-School Tournament
The University of Ottawa held one of its largest high school tournaments, and 15 teams from Quebec were among the 44 in attendance. Two Quebec teams, both from LCC faced each other in the semi-finals. Dylan Theriault-Harris and Michael Di Giorgio who were undefeated going into the break defeated Joseph Wiltzer and Ashley Gold in the semis, and made it to the final round! Although they lost in the final, it was a split decision in a very close round. The novice final consisted of one team from LCC, Lucas Mastrodomenico and Carolyn Steinberg, and one team from Selwyn House, Jarren Feffer and Josh Cohen. This was also a close round, but in the end the team from LCC came out on top. Congratulations to all the Quebec teams in attendance for their great showing at this tournament. |
Junior and Senior Championship
 On February 20th and 21st, the QSDA Provincials were hosted as a two-day event, with six rounds of debating, and both the junior and senior provincials were held at the same time. This tournament was co-hosted by Trafalgar and Lower Canada College. On Friday, there were two prepared rounds. The seniors debated the topic: “This House Would require all acts of the Canadian parliament to pass a Supreme Court challenge before becoming laws.” The juniors debated: “This House Would oppose mandatory minimum sentencing in Canada.” On Saturday, there were four impromptu rounds. The Junior champions were the Trafalgar team of Sydney Joy and Gabby Martucci. The other teams in the top five that qualified for Nationals were from Selwyn House, ECS, Royal West, and Kuper Academy. Sydney Joy from Trafalgar was the top speaker and Nabeel Ahmed from Selwyn House was the 2nd place speaker. In the senior division, the provincial champions were Julia Leb and Victoria Kalisky from LCC, who were the only team with a 6-0 record. The other teams in the top 5 were all from LCC, except for the 2nd place team from ECS. The top two senior speakers at the tournament were Athina Khalid and Maria Zimmermann, both from ECS. Special thanks to all of the coaches and judges! |
Report from McGill Winter Bonanza
On February 6th and 7th, around 60 teams attended McGill's second event of the year, held in CP format. Teams came from all across Canada for this event. Three teams from Quebec advanced to the hidden quarter-finals: the team of Foster Salpeter and Riley Cohen from LCC broke 3rd, the team of Rana Gaffar and Marissa Hatzigeorgiou from ECS broke 6th and the team of Athina Khalid and Maria Zimmermann also from ECS broke 7th. After a challenging round, the team of Rana and Marissa were the only ones to advance to the semi-finals, where they lost to a tough team from UCC. The top speaker at the tournament was Nitish Dhingra from UCC and 3 speakers from Quebec were also recognized in the top 10: Riley Cohen placed 6th, Marissa Hatzigeorgiou placed 8th, and Athina Khalid placed 10th. Thank you to McGill for a great tournament! |
ECS Tournament Summary
 The first QSDA tournament of 2015 was held at Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School on Wednesday, January 21st. Eighteen teams participated, and many kind judges from McGill University helped out with judging. Congratulations to Laurence Campanella from Vincent Massey for her 1st Place Speaker award, and to ECS’s team of Olivia Stein and Athina Khalid for their 1st Place team award. Thank you to all the debaters and coaches for making this another successful and fun tournament. |
Report From Queen’s University High School Tournament
On January 9th - 11th, 2015, the QSDA was represented by Lower Canada College, Miss Edgar and Miss Cramps, and Selwyn House at this year’s Queen’s debating tournament. One-Hundred-And-Six teams were in attendance from all over the world. It was a frosty week-end, but full of inspired debate. There was even a sighting of Canada’s Prime Minister at the local hockey game. Special congratulations go to the team of Foster Salpeter and Riley Cohen from LCC who broke 5th, and the team of Maria Zimmerman and Jiasi Liu from ECS who broke 16th, and more congratulations to Riley Cohen also received the 4th place speaker. Well-done to all of the debaters who represented Quebec at Queens. |
Report from the 2014 Oxford Cup Canadian Championship
The 2014 Oxford Cup Canadian Championships took place at Selwyn House School on November 14-16. Eighty-eight teams from across Canada competed in British Parliamentary Style to represent Canada at the Oxford Cup Tournament in Oxford, England. In the end, the first-place trophy went to Sam Starkey and Lloyd Lyall of West Point Grey (BC), and second-place went to Rory Flynn and Mattea Roach of Sacred Heart (NS). These two teams will represent Canada in England, good luck to both of them. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making the tournament a success. |
QSDA Junior Tournament at West Island College
On Monday, December 6th, West Island College held a QSDA Junior tournament. There were two prepared rounds of debate followed by one impromptu round. Congratulations to Jarren Feffer and Nabeel Ahmed from Selwyn House for their First Place finish. Second place went to Santina Conte and Katherine Iadeluca from Vincent Massey, and Third Place went to Jacob Igby and Adam Goren from West Island College. Congratulations to Diana Britvina from Kells on her First Speaker award. Thank you to Christina Grivas and to all of our competitors. |
Report From McGill
This year’s annual British Parliamentary tournament at McGill University drew a record of 136 teams. Congratulations to the McGill Debating Union for running an outstanding event! A total of 20 teams from Quebec participated this year, including students from LCC, Selwyn House, The Study, ECS, Loyola, Vincent Massey, and St. Thomas. One Quebec team made it to the quarter finals: Maria Zimmermann and Athina Khalid from ECS. Athina Khalid was also the top Quebec speaker at the tournament. The winners of the tournament were Rory Flynn and Mattea Roach from Sacred Heart School of Halifax. This tournament was the qualifier for the Oxford Cup, which will be taking place in Montreal in November. The top 7 Quebec teams from the McGill tournament qualify for the Oxford Cup. In addition to the quarter-finalists from ECS, the other teams to qualify were Dylan Theriault-Harris and Michael DiGeorgio (LCC), Joseph Wiltzer and Ashley Gold also (LCC), Riley Choen and Foster Salpeter (LCC), Linda Zhu and Julia Leb (LCC) Chloe Shahinian and Sophie Battat (The Study), and Adrian Goin and Gabriel Santaguida (Loyola). Congratulations to all! |
QSDA Junior Tournament at St. George's
The first Junior tournament of the year was held at St. George's School on Monday, October 6th. Twenty-two teams participated for two prepared rounds and one impromptu round. Congratulations to Santina Conte from Vincent Massey for the First Place Speaker award, and to Jenna Blatt and Gabby Martucci from Trafalgar for winning the tournament. A special thanks to Donna Gold at St. George's for hosting. |
QSDA Senior Tournament at Selwyn House
The first QSDA tournament was held at Selwyn House School on Monday, September 29th. Twenty-two teams participated, and it was an excellent beginning to the debating year. Congratulations to Chloe Shahinian for her 1st Place Speaker award, and to The Study for their 1st Place team award. Thank-you to all the debaters and coaches for making this a successful tournament. |
| Welcome Back!
Welcome debaters, coaches, and judges to the 2014-2015 high-school debating year. It is our most sincere hope that it will be a year filled with excellent debating competitions for Quebec debaters of all levels.
Most of the tournaments scheduled for the year can be found in the Calendar section of the website. We are still working out the details for some tournaments, so check back often for updates. You can also follow the QSDA on Twitter via the link above. If you are an experienced debater who is interested in being a judge, you can sign-up for the QSDA Judging Pool on Facebook.
For those of you who are new to debating, or who are trying to establish debating teams at your schools, this website contains a wealth of information for debaters under the Debating Resources tab. You can also feel free to contact me, Jonathan Bracewell, at president@qsda.org.
We look forward to seeing many of you at our first tournament.
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Junior National Championships
 The Junior Nationals were held in Toronto this year, with a total of 46 teams participating. Participants had four wonderful days in Toronto, and in addition to the debating, got to see a Blue Jays game, the Aquarium, and spend time at many of the prestigious colleges on the U of T campus. Many thanks go out the organizers, especially Aija Zommers, Deirdre Casey, Richard Cook and Santino Bellisario.  The winning team was from Ontario consisting of Dasha Metropolitansky and Armin Safavi-Naini from UTS, who defeated a team from British Columbia in the finals. Quebec was represented by 6 teams, 2 from LCC, two from ECS, one from Selwyn and one from St. George's. The top Quebec team was Linda Zhu and Julia Leb from LCC who made it to quarter-finals. The top Quebec speaker was Rachel McKenzie from St. George's. Click here for individual and team results. |
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