Archive 2010-2011 (in reverse chronological order)

Results from 2011 Junior National Championships The 2011 Junior National Championships were held in Estevan, Saskatchewan. Quebec was represented by four teams. The teams from Selwyn House were Jeremy Herman and George Perlman, as well as Eurim Choi and Jeremny Obrand. The LCC team consisted of Arianna Galbraith and Victoria Kalisky, and the Loyola team was Gabriel Santaguida and Connor Loeven. The top Quebec team was Jeremy and George at 4 wins and 2 losses, and the top Quebec speaker was Jeremy Obrand. Click here for the event summary, here to see the list of award winners, here to see the team results and here for the individual results.

Results from National Debating Championships A total of seven teams from Lower Canada College, Vincent Massey, and Kuper Academy traveled to Halifax for the annual National Championships. There was a record setting 72 teams in attendance, who debated a total of seven rounds plus break rounds. The event was hosted at Sacred Heart School of Halifax and we are grateful to tournament chair Brian Casey for running an exceptional event! After two intense days of debating, the LCC team of Sammy Rappaport and Emma-Rose Bienvenu were in a dead tie for 8th place, which meant a special run-off round to decide who would take 8th to be in the quarter-finals. Sammy and Emma won the round, before taking on, and defeating the number one seed from UCC who were undefeated. They then lost the semi-finals to the Branksome Hall team of Elizabeth Stratton and Anisah Mohamed. In the finals, the Branksome team defeated the Alberta team of Sam Kerr and Marsden Ashe. Sammy was the top speaker in 13th and Emma was 22nd. Cole Bricker from Upper Canada College was the top speaker. Congratulations to everyone. Click here for individual and team results.

Results from Junior Provincials Selwyn House hosted the QSDA Junior Provincials on April 8. A total of 22 teams competed in this annual event which featured 4 rounds of debate. A total of 4 teams were selected to represent Quebec at the Junior Nationals in Esteva, Saskatchewan next month. These teams were from the Study, Selwyn House, Vincent Massey and Lower Canada College. The top team was Stephanie Mouchbahan-Constance and Tamar Sifiri. Stephanie was also top speaker. Click here for individual and team results.

Dawson College Tournament Results A record number 30 teams participated in Dawson's annual tournament. In the final round, the Trafalgar team of Katie Rochford and Jess Michelin defeated Alez Izak and Nicolas Lenart. The top junior team was Victoria Kalisky and Arianna Galbraith from LCC, who were also semi-finalists. Cynthia Siino was the top speaker. Click here for individual and team results.

University of Toronto Results A total of 64 teams from all across Canada competed in the annual tournament at Hart House. There were five rounds of debate followed by semi-finals. The semi finals saw the Hybrid team of Northern and Thornhill defeat the Hyrbrid team of Halifax Grammar and Lower Canada College, while the hybrid team of Branksome Hall and Upper Canada College defeated the hybrid team of Walter Murray CI and St. Michael's University School. In the finals, the UCC / Branksome team consisting of Cole Bricker and Liz Stratton prevailed to win the championship. Debi Ogunrinde of Halifax Grammar School and Nik Carverhill from Walter Murray CI tied for top speaker. In the novice division final, the Branksome Hall team of Maliha Imami and Clare Moffat defeated the team from WHite Oaks consisting of Sabrina Frias and Sasha Teteruck. Click here for individual and team results.

University of Ottawa Debating Tournament The University of Ottawa's EDS Debating Society hosted their annual high school debating tournament on February 25-26. A total of 10 teams from Quebec participated, 8 from LCC and 2 from Westwood. After five preliminary rounds the semi-finalists were announced. The LCC team of Sammy Rappaport and Emma-Rose Bienvenu debated the LCC team of Zachary Baker and Gabrielle Gendron. Sammy and Emma prevailed, and then went on to defeat a team from Ashbury in the championship round! In individual standings, Sammy was 1st, Emma-Rose was 2nd and Zach was third. Click here for individual and team results.

Queen's University Debating Tournament Almost 60 of the top teams from across Canada converged in Kingston for the Queen's annual tournament. A total of ten debaters from The Study and LCC competed. Both semi-finals featured a team from LCC, with Emma-Rose Bienvenu and Ashley Anderson debating a team from White Oaks S.S., while David Wagner and Zach Baker debated a team from Northern S.S. Both LCC teams lost their semi-finals to finish an impressive 3rd and 4th. David Wagner was top Quebec speaker in 5th place overall. Whites Oaks defeated Northern in the finals on a 4-3 decision. Click here for individual and team results.

QSDA Provincial Championships The 2011 Provincial Championships were held at Vincent Massey. The prepared topic was about whether Japan should amend its constitution to allow a regular army. As usual, the tournament was in national debate format and there were two prepared rounds and two impromptu rounds. The top team was David Wagner and Zachary Baker from LCC. Second place went to Sammy Rappaport and Emma-Rose Bienvenu from LCC, third went to Megan Gagliano and Cynthia Siino from Vincent Massey, fourth to David Marcovitch and Matthew Azrieli from LCC, and fifth to Nicholas Lenart and Alex Izak from Vincent Massey. All these qualified for Nationals, along with teams from The Study, WIC, Trafalgar and Kuper. David Wagner was the top speaker. Click here for individual and team standings.

Marianopolis Tournament Results The annual Aristotle Cup Tournament was held at Marianopolis on January 15. A record number of 36 teams competed. The first two rounds were impromptu topics, followed by two rounds of squirrelling. The finals featured the Lycee Claudel team of Ahmad Nehme and Ariel Jorre de St. Jorre vs. the LCC teams of Emma-Rose Bienvenu and Ashley Anderson. After an excellent debate, and length deliberation, the Lycee Claudel team captured the tournament title. The top speaker was Emma-Rose Bienvenu. Click here for individual and team results.

2010 Oxford Cup This tournament was the qualifying tournament to select two teams to represent Canada at the 2011 Oxford Schools Championships in England. There were 36 teams present, who were selected by each province through a qualifying event. This tournament was held in British Parliamentary format. After six preliminary rounds, eight teams were selected for the semi-finals, then four for the finals. The tournament was won by Nicole Ratti and Tae-Hu Kim from Richmond Hill. Second place went to the White Oaks team of Jake Teufel and Mohammed Sarraj, third to the West Point Grey team of Peter Johanssen and Ashley Bowron, and fourth to the Halifax Grammar team of Kelsey Keddy and Patricia Castle. Both the Richmond Hill team and West Point Grey team qualify for Oxford, as teams must be from different provinces. Debi Ogunrinde from Halifax Grammar was the top speaker. Special thanks to Michael Muir for hosting an outstanding event, and to Vinay Kumar Mysore for his role as Chief Adjudicator. Click here to see the motions debate. Click here for individual and team results.

Ottawa Debating Tournament Results The Carleton University tournament was cancelled, then rescheduled as a one day event at Lycee Claudel, for which everyone is very grateful. There were 28 teams in attendance, with four rounds of debate breaking to finals. The LCC team of Emma-Rose Bienvenu and Ashley Anderson finished first as a team, going undefeated at 4-0 and then defeating Ashbury in the finals. The top speaker was Emma-Rose Bienvenu. Click here for individual and team results.

Loyola Public Speaking Results The Loyola Public Speaking Tournament selected the top students to represent the QSDA at the National Public Speaking Championships in Winnipeg next February. The top students were in first place Dan Ton-That from Selwyn House, second place was Anthony Distephano from Lester B.Pearson H.S.. third place went to Michael Hutchinson from LCC and fourth place was Amol Raut from Centennial Regional H.S.

ESU Public Speaking Results The National ESU Public Speaking Tournament was held in Montreal on Sunday, October 31. A record 38 participants from Winnipeg to Montreal competed in this annual event. The theme of the speeches, "Lessons For The Future" brought forth a variety of very interesting and entertaining speeches. Six speakers were selected for the finals. The top speaker was Erin Singer from Branksome Hall was first overall, the third straight year a student from Branksome won the event. In second place was Dan Ton-That from Selwyn House, who was a finalist last year as well. Both Erin and Dan have won the right to represent Canada at the International Public Speaking Competition held in London next May. Third place went to Alyssa Muzyk from Havergal College, fourth went to Anisah Mahomed from Branskome Hall, fifth to Kathryn Burczynski from St. Mary's, and rounding out the finalists in sixth place was Alex Izydorczyk from St. Paul's. Click here for the preliminary round results, and click here to go to the ESU Public Speaking home page which has more information.

McGill University Results The 51st McGill High School tournament was held on October 29-30. A total of 96 teams participated in this annual event, which was held in British Parliamentary format for the first time ever. Several Quebec teams entered. The team from The Study consisting of Sabrina Roy and Sarah Battat made it to the semi-finals, while the team of Sammy Rappaport ( LCC ) and Debi Ogunrinde ( Halifax Grammar ) were victorious in the final round from first proposition. In individual standings, Sammy was third, Sarah was second, and Debi took top speaker honours. This year, the top two novice teams were invited to attend the International Young Debater's Competition which will be held at Cambridge University next May. The two teams who qualified as being the top novice teams in the final standings were Branksome Hall ( Clare Moffatt and Malina Imami ) and Upper Canada College ( Elliot Kaufman and Chris Taylor ). Click here for individual and team results.

QSDA Oxford Cup Qualifier The first QSDA Tournament of 2010-11 took place at LCC on October 18. There were 28 teams representing 11 different schools, including several new schools and coaches so it was exciting to see so many new debaters for what was one of the largest QSDA tournaments ever. There were three rounds of impromptu topics, with the top five teams qualifying for the Oxford Cup tournament in Toronto in late November. First place went to the LCC team of David Wagner and Zach Baker. The remaining teams that qualified are Cynthia Siino and Megan Gagilano from Vincent Massey, Alex Izak and Liana Cusmano from Vincent Massey, Sarah Battat and Sabrina Roy from The Study, and Sammy Rappaport and Daniel Knight from LCC. David Wagner was the top speaker. Click here for individual and team results.

Junior National Debating Championships The 2010 Junior National Championships were held in Calgary, Alberta in May. Quebec was represented by six teams: from Lower Canada College the team of David Marcovitch and Matthew Azrieli, as well as the team of Lilani Pretorius and Melissa Cape, the Selwyn team of Josh Cape and Josh Dannenbaum, as well as Jeremy Obrand and Euirim Choi, the Vincent Massey team of Liana Cusmano and Nicholas Lenart, and also the team from The Study consisting of Sabrina Roy and Sarah Battat. The format of the tournament had us debate two prepared rounds in cross-ex format, followed by the familiar national debate format. The top Quebec team was the team from The Study, who made it all the way to the semi-finals. The tournament was won by Halifax Grammar School. Click here for the team results.