Archive 2007-2008 (in reverse chronological order)

LCC Wins Junior National Championships The 2008 Junior Nationals were held in St. John's, Newfoundland last week. There were 26 teams in attendance from across the country. Students debated a total of 10 rounds over three days, on topics such as whether we should withdraw from NATO, use genetically modified crops, and whether or not affirmative action should be used to have more women in parliament. The Quebec team was accompanied by Isabelle Fahmy, and consisted of Sarah Battat and Sophie Berube ( The Study ), Charlotte Schwartz ( Royal West ), Daniel Knight ( Selwyn ) as well as Sam Gurman and Sammy Rappaport ( LCC ). The team of Charlotte and Daniel finished in 8th place, while the team of Sam and Sammy won the National Championship! The defeated a team from Alberta in the finals to claim Quebec's second junior national title in the last four years. Congratulations! Click here for newspaper article.

National Championships The 2008 National Championships took place in Calgary this year. Quebec sent 10 teams in total; 1 from LCC, 1 from Trafalgar, 1 from John Rennie, 2 from Selwyn House, 1 from The Study, 1 from West Island College, 1 from Loyola, 1 from St. George's and 1 from Stanstead. Students had one day of sigh-seeing at Banff and Drumheller. The top Quebec team was Lisa Shell-Schnitzer and Lauren Phizicky from Trafalgar in 14th place. West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver defeated Halifax Grammar in the finals. Click here for the results.

Junior Provincials The 2008 Junior Provincials took place on April 3 at Selwyn House. There were a total of 26 teams in attendance. The top team was Sammy Rappaport and Sam Gurman from Lower Canada College. The team of Sophie Berube and Sarah Battat from The Study finished 2nd, and the Selwyn House team of Daniel Knight and Harry Cape finished in 3rd. The six debaters who will represent Quebec at Nationals, are Sammy, Sam, Sophie, Sarah and Daniel, along with Chalotte Schwartz from Royal West. We wish them the best of luck in St. John's! Click here for team and individual results.

Dawson High School Tournament The Dawson High School Tournament took place on March 29, with a record number of teams in attendance. The Selwyn team of Ryan Brun and David McLeod defeated the Selwyn team of Phil Simard and Michael Zimmermann in the finals. The semi-finalist were Nick Shulman and Misha Solomon from LCC, along with the Selwyn / Study hybrid team of Trevor Hooton and Julia Deutsch. Nick Shulman was the top speaker. Congratulations to Edward Bechard-Torres and Lauren Shadley for running an excellent tournament! Click here for team and individual results.

2007-08 Willis McLeese Award The Quebec Student Debating Association is pleased to announce that the winner of the annual award for "outstanding service to student debate is Sandra Siggins. She was a driving force in Quebec student debating for many years, serving as the President of the QSDA for the last half of the 1990's and into the new century. At the same time she was active as the teacher advisor for the St. George's debating team, coaching a number of outstanding debaters. She has been living and teaching in Hong Kong for the past six years.

Hart House High School Tournament The Hart House tournament at the University of Toronto was held on March 7 and 8th, with 66 teams competing. Both St. George's and LCC competed from Quebec. The top Quebec speaker was Howard Cohen, while the LCC team of Jacob Adesky and Sean Adesky took top spot in the junior division. The semi-finalist teams were from Northern and Richmond Hill. In the Championship Round, the UCC team of Calvin Rosemond and Joe Bricker defeated the Sacred Heart of Halifax / St. John's Ravenscourt hybrid of Shalini Rao and Tim Abdulla. Click here for team and individual results.

QSDA Website The website has just been updated for better performance. Other than that, everything looks exactly the same. However, if you notice any broken links, please report them to webmaster [at] qsda [dot] net.

Queen's Tournament Teams from LCC, the Study and Vincent Massey travelled to Kingston for the annual Queen's tournament. As always, a large number of teams from across the country in what is always one of the most competitive events of the year. The top Quebec team was the LCC team of Howard Cohen and Sam Gurman who lost in the quarter-finals. The tournament was won by UCC for the second year in a row. Click here for team and individual results.

QSDA Provincial Championships The 2008 QSDA Provincial Championships were held at LCC and 44 students participated. The 2008 Champions are Kierstin Lundell-Smith and Howard Cohen from LCC. Second place went to Phil Simard and Michael Zimmerman from Selwyn with both teams winning all 4 rounds. Kierstin was the top speaker, with Nick Shulman from LCC and Ryan Brun Selwyn rounding out the top 3. We have 10 teams eligible to advance to Nationals with 2 being from Selwyn, 2 from LCC, 2 from the Study, 1 from Trafalgar, 1 from Loyola, 1 from Stanstead and 1 from St. George's. Click here for team and individual results.

Loyola Public Speaking The annual public speaking tournament selected two students for the National Public Speaking Championships in Winnipeg. Grace Lauzon from John Rennie and Graham Hooton from Selwyn House were the top two speakers. Best of luck at Nationals!

York University Debating Tournament Over 50 teams competed in the largest ever York University tournament, with LCC and Vincent Massey making the trip from Quebec. The top novice team was Cynthia Siino and Megan Gagliano from Vincent Massey. In the senior division, the LCC team of Kierstin Lundell-Smith and Howard Cohen defeated the LCC team of Nick Shulman and Misha Solomon in the championship round. Kierstin took the top speaker award. - Team and Individual Results

National Seminar 2007 The 2007 Fall Seminar was held in Vancouver and Victoria. The theme of the seminar was the environment. The Quebec debaters were Graham Hooton ( Selwyn ), Tanya Chandik ( Westwood ), Lara Hamelin ( Queen of Angels ), Ariel Shapiro ( Royal West ) and Felix Hughes ( John Rennie ) competed in the Bilingual category. Many thanks to Mary Kate Jackson for accompanying the group. Ariel Shapiro was the top Quebec speaker.

Marianopolis Tournament The annual "Aristotle Cup" tournament was held at Marianopolis. Twenty teams attended and debated four impromptu rounds in Parliamentary Style. In the finals, the Selwyn team of David McLeod and Ryan Brun defeated the Selwyn team of Phil Simard and Michael Zimmerman. The semi-finalists were Misha Solomon and Nick Shulman from LCC, and Arik Parnass and Alex Chalk. The top speaker was Nick Shulman. - Team and Individual Results

Queen of Angels Junior Tournament The second junior tournament of the year was held at QAA. The top team was Harry Cape and Brandon Adelson from Selwyn House, with the LCC team of David Wagner and Zack Baker finishing second. - Team and Individual Results

Carleton University Tournament Carleton hosted a small but very successful tournament with Ottawa and Montreal schools. Two LCC teams made it the semi-finals, with the team of Misha Solomon and Nick Shulman finishing 3rd, and KIerstin Lundell-Smith and Sam Gurman finishing 4th. Two Lisgar teams made finals.

McGill University Tournament McGill hosted 90 teams for its annual high school tournament. Nine Quebec schools attended. The team of Julia Deutsch and Caroline Jo from The Study, as well as Ryan Brun and David McLeod from Selwyn House made it to the quarter-finals. Halifax Grammar defeated Upper Canada College in the finals.

North American Debating Championships The North American Debating Championships were held in Calgary, Alberta from Oct. 18th to 22nd. Quebec was represented by a total of seven teams, and the team was accompanied by Chris George and Isabelle Fahmy. The teams were Howard Cohen and Sammy Rapport from LCC, Julia Deutsch and Caroline Jo from The Study, Kiara Kamimski from The Study, Phil Ta Kim and Trevor Hooton from Selwyn House, Matthew Quadrini and Jordan Gentile from Loyola, Ethan Gordon and Daniel Freder from St. George's and Alex Chalk and Arik from St. George's. All six preliminary rounds and two break rounds were held in British Parliamentary Style. The top Quebec team was the LCC team. The tournament winners were Westmount Charter from Alberta, who along with West Point Grey will represent Canada at the Oxford tournament next March. - Team and Individual Results

Stanstead College Junior Tournament The first junior tournament of the year took place at Stanstead College on Friday, October 12. Many thanks to James Rioux for his tireless efforts, and to the entire Stanstead community for being welcoming to this event. In an entertaining final, the team of Harry Cape and Marc Perlman from Selwyn House (1st place team) debated against Centennial (2nd place team) consisting of Harley Nadler and Duncan Stewart. The top five speakers were Michael Oberman (Royal West), Harry Cape, Daniel Knight (Selwyn), Harley Nadler and William Bright (Stanstead). - Team and Individual Results

St. George's Hosts First Tournament The qualifying tournament for the North American Championships was held at St. George's on September 19, with students debating three impromptu motions. Nick Shulman and Misha Solomon from LCC took the top team award, while Matthew Quadrini and Jordan Gentile (Loyola) and Caroline Jo and Julia Deutsch (The Study) were also undefeated and rounded out the top 3. The additional teams that have qualified for North Americans are in order: Howard Cohen and Sammy Rappaport (LCC), Arik Parnass and Alex Chalk (St. George's), Madison McLeod and Kiara Kaminiski (The Study), Trevor Hooton and Phil Ta Kim (Selwyn House) and Ethan Gordon and Daniel Freder (St. George's). Many thanks to Jeff Deeprose and Donna Gold for hosting us! - Team and Individual Results

World Championships The 2007 World High School Debating Championships were held recently in Seoul, South Korea. Quebec was represented by Kierstin Lundell-Smith, who has graduated from Trafalgar School. The team finished the preliminary rounds in 9th place, before defeating Slovenia in the octo-finals, and then South Africa in the quarter-finals! They lost a very close 3-2 decision to Singapore in the semi-finals, and were ranked 4th overall. Congratulations to all of Team Canada (Sean Barron, Kierstin Lundell-Smith, Caroline Ness, Andrew Rusk and Sean Stefanik) for an amazing result!