The final tournament of the year was held at York University in Toronto on the weekend of May 5-6. There were 24 teams in total, and this year there was a separate junior final. The tournament was won by Peter Phua and Megan Schieck of Richmond Hill who defeated Northern S.S. in the finals. The junior LCC team of Sammy Rappaport and Howard Cohen (in grade 7 and 8) finished 9th on the tab and prevailed over the grade 9 team from Richmond Hill in the junior final. Click here for individual and team results.

Junior National Debating Championships

The Junior National Debating Championships took place in late April at Branksome Hall in Toronto. The four teams from Quebec were: Misha Solomon ( LCC ) and Ariel Shapiro ( Royal West ), Lisen Bassett and Rivelle Zlatopolsky ( ECS ), Ryan Brun and Trevor Hooton ( Selwyn ) as well as Lisa Schell-Schnitzer and Lauren Phizicky ( Trafalgar ). The top two Quebec speakers were Misha ( 8th ) and Lisa ( 17th ). The top team was Misha and Ariel who finished in 8th. Lauren and Lisa were the top discussion style team in 10th, Misha and Ariel finished 6th in worlds style and 4th in cross-ex, while Trevor and Ryan finished 7th in cross-ex. Many thanks to Liana Palko for coaching and chaperoning the students! Click here for results.

Junior Provincials

Weston High School hosted this year's Junior Provincial Championships on April 7th. Selwyn House's Ryan Brun and Trevor Hooton defeated the ECS team of Rivelle Zlatopolsky and Kelly Steinmetz in the final debate to take home the Provincial trophy. This event is the qualifier for the Junior National event hosted this year at Branksome Hall in Toronto. The following 8 debaters will represent Quebec at Junior Nationals: Misha Solomon (LCC), Ryan Brun (Selwyn), Trevor Hooton (Selwyn) Rivelle Zlatoplosky (ECS), Ariel Shapiro (Royal West), Lauren Phizicky (Trafalgar), Lisa Shell-Schnitzer (Trafalgar) and Lisen Bassett (ECS). Click here for individual and team results.

Dawson April Fool's Tournament

On Saturday, April 1st, Dawson held an high school invitational tournament. The LCC team of Madeleine Ballard & Caroline Wagner defeated the Royal West team of David Rudin and Lauren Liu in a hilarious final round about creating "good" art. The top 5 speakers at the tournament were: 1) David Rudin (Royal West), 2) Caroline Wagner (LCC), 3) Madeleine Ballard (LCC), 4) Misha Solomon (LCC) and 5) Kierstin Lundell-Smith (Trafalgar). Click here for individual and team results.

Provincial Qualifier

On Tuesday, March 28th, Centennial High School hosted the QSDA Provincial Qualifier for National Seminar. The LCC team of Robert Morrissey and Caroline Wagner and the St. George's team of Emilie Amar and Michael Stepner faced off in the final round, with LCC emerging as the tournament champion. David Rudin of Royal West was awarded the top speaker prize. The final list of Quebec debaters who will travel to Halifax for this year's seminar is yet to be determined. Click here for individual and team results.

University of Ottawa Tournament

On March 3 and 4, the University of Ottawa held its annual high school tournament. There were 26 teams in attendance, including 8 from Quebec. The team of Carmel Jacobson (Trafalgar) and Michael Stepner (St. George's) made it to the semi-finals. The Westwood team of Anne-Marie Rozon and Marianne Jette finished in 8th place. The tournament was won by Ashbury College. In individual standings, Michael was 2nd and Carmel was 6th. Congratulations to everyone! Click here for individual and team results.

University of Toronto High School Tournament

On the weekend of Feb. 24-25, several Quebec teams attend the 8th annual University of Toronto debating tournament. This is one of the largest in Canada with almost 70 teams competing. A total of 12 students from LCC, Trafalgar, St. George's and Royal West attended, making it our largest ever representation in Toronto. At the end of the preliminary rounds, two Quebec teams advanced to quarter-finals. The Trafalgar team of Carmel Jacobson and Kierstin Lundell-Smith lost a close quarter-final match to finish 6th. The hyrbid team of Madeleine Ballard from LCC and Christine Wadsworth from Toronto also advanced, and ultimately finished as tournament champions! In individual standings, Kierstin was 6th, Madeleine was 8th, Michael Stepner from St. George's was 9th, Misha Solomon from LCC was 18th (and named the top novice), and David Rudin from Royal West was 20th. It was a very successful event for all Quebec teams, and a great time was had by all!

CanWest Public Speaking

The 2006 CanWest Public Speaking Nationals went very well this year. The 6 students who will go on to the World individuals are Steven Kryger (Manitoba), Shakir Rahim (BC), Whitney Skinner (Saskatchewan), Kiran Dhillon (Manitoba), Liam Edginton-Green (Manitoba) and Jennifer Wang (Saskatchewan). The overall winner was Steven Kryger who also won the debating and persuasive speaking categories. Shakir Rahim placed second and won the impromptu speaking category and Whitney Skinner placed third. Adrienne Matei (BC) won the Interpretive Reading category.

Queen's High School Tournament

Click here for individual and team results.

National Championships

The Senior National Debating Championships were hosted here in Montreal from February 3 to 5. We had 48 of the top teams from across Canada in attendance. This year’s National Champions are Madeleine Ballard and Corey Wolman from Lower Canada College. Madeleine and Corey won eight of their nine rounds en route to capturing LCC’s second national title in the last three years. Three other Quebec teams won at least 4 of the 6 preliminary rounds. The team of Caroline Wagner and Robert Morrisey from LCC finished in 10th just outside of the quarter-finals, the ECS team of Margot Raicek and Rachel Coopersmith finished in 16th, and the LCC team of Edward Lai and Nick Shulman finished 17th. In individual standings, Madeleine was 6th, Corey was 9th, and Caroline was 15th. Please click here for more information and full results.

Herzliah St. Laurent Junior Invitational

Congratulations to Selwyn House A (David McLeod & Nick Agostino) for taking the top team award at the Herzliah Junior Invitational on January 17th. It was a great day of debate for Selwyn House; David McLeod was also awarded top speaker, and the Selwyn B team (Ryan Brun & Trevor Hooton) placed 2nd overall. Click here for the complete Team and Individual results.

Western Invitational

The University of Western Ontario's debating tournament was held on Jan. 13 - 14 in London, Ontario. The hybrid team of Edward Lai ( LCC ) and Christine Wadsworth ( Marshall McLuhan ) took first place with an undefeated record. The team of Brandon Farnsworth and Nick Shulman from LCC finished after making it to the semi-finals, and were also named top novice team. Nick Shulman also finished 3rd individually. Click here for individual and team results.

Debaters from Royal West and Trafalgar

Senior Provincials

St. George's hosted this year's senior provincial tournament on the 23rd of November. This event is the qualifier for the Senior National Championships to be held here in Montreal this coming February. Royal West Academy's David Rudin and Edward Bechard-Torres won the tournament, with David taking the top speaker prize as well. Congratulations to all the other teams that qualified for Nationals: Robert Morrisey & Caroline Wagner (LCC), Lauren Shadley & Kierstin Lundell-Smith (Trafalgar), Madeleine Ballard & Corey Wolman (LCC), Annike Flomen & Talia Ralph (Royal West), Michael Stepner and Alex Chalk (St. George's), Margot Raciek & Rachel Coopersmith (ECS), Edward Lai & Nick Shulman (LCC), and Sheina Lew Levy and Phillilpe Berger (Herziliah Snowdon). Results: Team & Individual

Bialik Junior Invitational

Congratulations to Alex Chalk and Arik Parnass of St. George's for winning the Bialik Invitational on November 15th! Lisa Shell-Schnitzer (Trafalgar School for Girls) took the top speaker award. Results: Team & Individual

Many thanks again to Judy Stein and Bialik for hosting such an efficient tournament!

Carleton University Xerxes Cup

Approximately 40 teams from across Ontario and from Montreal competed at the annual Carleton "Xerxes Cup" in Ottawa. Congratulations go out to tournament champions from Royal West - Talia Ralph and Annike Flomen. They won 6 of 7 rounds en route to the championship title. The LCC team of Caroline Wagner and Robert Morrisey just missed the semis and finished in 5th place. David Rudin from Royal West was the second overall speaker. Congratulations to all! Results: Team & Individual

North American Championships
(October 2005)

The inaugural North American Championships were held on October 30-31 at Trafalgar School for Girls. The QSDA welcomed 56 of the best high school debaters from Canada and the U.S. to compete in 4 rounds of British Parliamentary debate. The championship cup was taken by Joshua Sealy and Wyll McClary of William Aberhart High School (Alberta). Congratulations to Madeleine Ballard and Corey Wolman (from LCC) for making it to the final round!

Top Speaker at North Americans 2005

Results: Team & Individual

Debaters from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Quebec & Nova Scotia

McGill High School Debating Tournament (October 2005)

Over 100 teams competed at the annual McGill high school tournament. It was a superbly run event, and thanks go out to tournament chair Daniel King. In an exciting final, the winning team was Northern S.S. consisting of John Ashbourne and Susan Liu.

Results: Team & Individual

Marianopolis High School Invitational (October 2005)

Congratulations to Nick Shulman and Edward Lai of Lower Canada College for winning the Aristotle Cup! Shulman and Lai met up with Trafalgar's Kierstin Lundell-Smith and Lauren Shadley in the dream debate and won on a 3-2 decision. Michael Stepner of St. George's took home top speaker of the tournamenent. Congrats to all!

Results: Team & Individual

Stanstead Junior Invitational (October 2005)

Congratulations to Connie Perlinghis and Arielle Coopersmith from ECS for taking top team at the first junior tournament of the school year! The QSDA would like to thank James Rioux of Stanstead College for hosting such a great event. Results: Team & Individual

Senior National Debating Championship Announcement

The Board of Governors of the National Debating Championships has voted to accept the following topic for the prepared rounds:

This House believes that outsourcing is beneficial to Canadian society.

This topic will be debated for the two prepared rounds to be held on the morning of Friday, February 3, 2006.

National Seminar Announcement

The prepared resolutions for the 2006 National Seminar will be:

Cross-Ex: Is torture justified in the interests of national security?
Contre X : L'utilisation de la torture est-elle justifiée pour assurer la sécurité nationale ?

Parliamentary: BIRT Canada discontinue the use of national security certificates.
Parlementaire : Q.S.R.Q. le Canada cesse le recours certificat de sécurité.

Please keep in mind that our National Seminar Regulations (12-g) state that "No Member shall, during the period between the announcement of the Seminar Resolutions and the Seminar itself, sanction a tournament that uses a Seminar prepared resolution, or a closely related resolution."

Pan-American Championships

On the weekend of Oct. 1 - 2, the Pan-American Championships were held in Winnipeg. Canada was represented by three teams, consisting of students who are on the National team for next year's World Championships along with some alternates. There were teams from Canada, the U.S.A. and Argentina. "Canada 2" was captained by Madeleine Ballard of LCC, a member of the National team. Her team went undefeated in the preliminary rounds to break number one. They defeated Canada 3 in the finals to win the Pan-American Championships!

North American Qualifier Sept. 2005

Congratulations to the debaters from Royal West (David Rudin & Edward Bechard-Torres), Trafalgar (Lauren Shadley & Kierstin Lundell-Smith) and Lower Canada College (Madeleine Ballard & Corey Wolman) for qualifying for the North American Debating Championships! Royal West was the first place team at the qualifying tournament held on Sept. 22nd at LCC. Click the following links for complete results: Team & Individual

Debaters from LCC, Trafalgar & Royal West

Junior National Championships 2005

Congratulations to Lauren Shadley and Kierstin Lundell-Smith (of Trafalgar School for Girls) for winning the Junior National Championship! The tournament was hosted by the Sacred Heart School of Halifax this year. Quebec debaters placed very well overall; two of Quebec's teams made it to semi-finals and three of Quebec's debaters ranked in the top ten as individual speakers. David Rudin (of Royal West Academy) was awarded top speaker in Quebec. Click here for results.

Team Quebec at Peggy's Cove