Tournament Information

Debating

Times and Rules.

The debates will follow the Canadian National Debate Style Rules but will use shorter speaking times. Maximum speaking times will be 6 minutes for the first four speeches and 3 minutes for the two rebuttal/reply speeches. Points of Information will be allowed.

Students are allowed to use their own timing devices when they are speaking, although there will also be an official timer for the debate.

Guidelines for the prepared resolution

The prepared resolution is “This House supports a two-state solution for Ukraine.” Based on questions that we have received, we wanted to clarify a few points about the resolution. First, in some provinces This House always means Canada or the Canadian House of Commons. That is not the case nationally and will not be the case for this tournament. This House could be defined as Canada but otherwise will be assumed to be the group of people that you are speaking to in the debate, i.e. the resolution is just that a two state solution would be a good idea for Ukraine.

The Proposition will make it clear what they mean by two-state in either their definition or their model, including the degree of independence of each state, including from Russia, and if either of the two states could eventually join another country or group (the Proposition side does not have to specify this but may do so).

Teams will debate both sides of the prepared resolution.

Guidelines for the Impromptu Resolutions

Teams will have 30 minutes to prepare. The proposition will prepare inside the room, the opposition right outside the room. When preparing during that 30 minutes, teams may not use electronic devices, books, magazines, people, notes from previous debates, or anything else other than their own brains. Cell phones may be used as timing devices only and must be in airplane mode.

The proposition will not reveal the definition to the opposition before the debate. The definition must be debatable and may not be truistic or unreasonable.

Teams will only debate a given impromptu resolution once, so they will not debate both sides of the impromptu resolution.

Pairings (aka the Draw)

As in previous national championships, the first 2 rounds will be paired randomly, although there will be provincial protection, i.e. teams from the same province will not debate against each other. The remaining rounds will be bracketed, i.e. the teams will be paired so that teams will the same win-loss record will be against each other. This means that after the first 2 rounds, teams from the same province or the same school may be debating each other. It also means that there is no guarantee that teams will debate an equal number of times as proposition or opposition. This follows the practice in previous national championships.

Logistics

Transportation

All non-Manitoban debaters and registered adults will be transferred from the hotel to the debate and sightseeing venues by bus. Manitoban participants will be expected to arrange their own transportation to the venues at the start of the day and home at the end of the day, but will be provided with transportation during the day.

Meals

Meals other than breakfast will be provided from Friday morning until the end of the tournament except for dinner on Friday when you will be at the Forks. We will accommodate any food requirements that were noted when students and adults registered on the registration website.

Clothing

Debaters will be expected to dress formally for the debates (school uniforms are acceptable but not required for those schools that have them). Casual clothes are fine for sightseeing and other activities, but students will not have any opportunity to go back to the hotel during the day and so would need to bring casual clothes with them if they want to change after the debates.

Airport

All teams that send us arrival times using this link will be met at the airport. The Sandman Hotel has a free shuttle service from the airport.

Sightseeing and Social Events

All sightseeing and social activities are mandatory. This is because we feel that the chance to socialize with other students from across the country is both fun and important part of the activity. Competitors are expected to attend unless they or their coaches have arranged permission to miss from the organizers.