Rossland Students Argue in Provincial Debate Tourney
By Contributor
Rossland Debate students joined JL Crowe, Stanley Humphries, Kinnaird, Trafalgar and LV Rogers to attend the Law Foundation Cup Provincial Debate Tournament that was held on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28, in Vancouver at St. George’s School. The Rossland Summit School members included Scarlet Guy and Brian Chan, and the Seven Summits Centre for Learning included Hannah Klemmensen as part of the sixteen-member West Kootenay Regional Team. The topic under discussion for the prepared cross-examination was “citizens who travel abroad to join terrorist organizations should have their citizenship revoked”. In the second day of competition, the students completed three rounds of impromptu debates whereby one side selected a topic from three possible choices and the other team selected the side. Those topics ranged from abolishing the monarchy, to having Quebec secede, that university should be free, to the fact that all students should have volunteer internationally, to the need to increase foreign aid in support women’s rights in developing countries. Students were given fifteen minutes to prepare their cases in order to showcase their debating skills. The final motion undertaken by the top two senior teams in the province was that, “dictators should relinquish their power in exchange for amnesty.” However, the loudest and most robust debate of the weekend was the “benefits of pie versus cake” that took place on the bus.
Congratulations to Lily Huttemann and Annabel Vrba from Trafalgar in the novice category for their fourth place team placement. In addition, Hope Cwynar from Stanley Humphries was selected to attend the Junior Nationals in Winnipeg in early May as the top grade nine junior in the Kootenay region.
Traveling to Vancouver also included other activities such as ride up the new Sea to Skye eight-person gondola in Squamish. Students walked the trails at the top and took pictures on the suspension bridge high above the mountain treetops. The First Nations “reverence for nature and high places was evident. Ch’kai was a safe haven for the Squamish people during the Great Flood thousands of years ago”. As the lights cascaded over the evening hours, students enjoyed a banquet in the Sea to Skye Restaurant before riding the nighttime tram down to the base.
Many thanks go out to the community members, Mr. Chris Buckley, an immigration expert, and lawyer, Mr. Jesse Gelber, of McEwan and Company for their time spent assisting in the preparation of these students before their travel to the provincial tournament.
Students may now look forward to a novice tournament in the spring to encourage new participants to come on board.
