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Dear Participants, Judges, Volunteers, and Coaches,​

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The DSABC is pleased to invite you to attend the 2026 BC British Parliamentary Debate Championship.

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Special additions for virtual events have been highlighted in pink.

Event Information:
Host Platform: Zoom Videoconferencing

Date: October 23-24, 2026

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Top students from this tournament will advance to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships (more information TBA).

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Fees (non-refundable):

• Competitors: $20/per team

• Pay fees online: Pay Fees | Debate and Speech BC (bcdebate.ca)

Payments must be made online by the stage 2 registration deadline. Any schools failing to make payment by this time will forfeit their position to the next participant on the waitlist.
 

Registration Stages:

• Stage 1 - Team Number Requests - Open until Friday, October 9. 

  • Schools may request spots in each category up to a maximum of 6 teams total.

  • Each school may have no more than 4 teams in either category

  • We are able to accommodate up to 100 teams at this event. Spaces are first-come-first-served.

  • These numbers will be confirmed via email after the deadline, after which any waitlist spots will be allocated

  • Registration link

• Stage 2 - Names of Teams and Judges - Will open on a rolling basis as Stage 1 Registration is received

  • Open until Friday, October 16.

  • All non-judging coaches/parents wishing to attend the finals and/or awards must also complete an "external observer" form or they will be removed from the Zoom Meeting without warning.

  • Judges who have additional conflicts of interest beyond their own school's students must complete the tournament conflict of interest form before the tournament begins.

  • DSABC membership must be renewed and 2026-27 dues paid before the event. 

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• Additional forms: 

  • External observer form (for non-judging coaches and parents)​

    • Observers may watch rounds with the consent of the students. They may not record rounds and must not interfere with debates  (i.e., observers should not talk to the debaters and judge during the round).​

  • External judge form (for independent judges interested in judging at the event)

 

Tournament Categories:
 

Junior Category:

• This category is for students in Grade 7-9​

• In order to compete in this age category, both debaters must meet these criteria.
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Senior Category:

• All high school students are eligible to compete in the Senior Category

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Tournament Format:​

• 5 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in British Parliamentary Style​

• All speeches will be 5-minutes.

• Impromptu Senior and Junior finals will be held for the top 4 teams in each category.

• All impromptu rounds will have different topics with 15 minutes of preparation time prior to each round.

• Topics will be relevant to local or national politics, current events, and/or prevalent social or moral issues.

• Hybrid teams are not permitted. Teams must comprise of two students from the same DSABC member school

• All attendees are expected to abide by DSABC policies and uphold the integrity of debate. There is a zero tolerance policy on any use of external sources during prep time. This includes no use of any artificial intelligence programs (such as Chat GPT, Gemini etc.). 

• The Zoom Meeting will be password protected for the security of all participants. Screen-sharing will be disabled at all times. Any individual found in the Zoom Meeting who is not registered as part of a school delegation or as an external observer will be removed from the meeting immediately and without warning.

• All participants (and judges) must have access to a device with a working microphone and camera for the duration of the tournament. A full technical guide will be sent to registered attendees.

 

Judging Expectations:

• Each school must provide at least one judge per two teams (rounded up) for the duration of the tournament. ​

• Teams that do not supply a judge may be disqualified from the tournament.

• All judges must be available for the duration of the tournament unless clearly indicated on the registration form that a different judge will be replacing an individual.

• Experienced Grade 12 students can be used as judges in the junior division only. You must seek approval for a student judge before submitting Stage 2 Registration by emailing dsabcpresident@gmail.com. 

• Judges must be at least 18 years old, fluent in English, comfortable using technology unassisted, and comfortable with following fast-paced speeches using moderate to high-level vocabulary.​

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Qualifications:

Junior Category

• BC advances, on average, 3 junior teams to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships.

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Senior Category

• BC advances, on average, 6 senior teams to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships.

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Chaperone Policy

• All students are required to have a school-approved "chaperone" online at all times. The DSABC accepts no liability for any student left unsupervised at any DSABC-sponsored event, whether online or in-person.

• A chaperone can be a coach, teacher sponsor or parent/guardian who is authorized by their child’s school and is willing to take on all chaperone related responsibilities.

• Senior students are not considered chaperones. 

• All adults acting as chaperones are expected to uphold the DSABC Code of Ethics.

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Tentative Schedule

Friday

4:00-4:30pm                       Online Registration in Main Zoom Room

4:30-5:30pm                        Judge Briefings (mandatory for all judges)

5:15pm                                Topic & Pairings released to debaters

5:15-6:30pm                        Round 1

6:30-7:15pm                        Dinner Break

7:15pm                                Topic & Pairings released to debaters

7:30-8:30pm                        Round 2 

 

Saturday

9:00-9:30am                       Online Registration in Main Zoom Room

9:45-10:45am                      Judges’ Briefing (mandatory for new judges - all judges welcome for a refresher)

10:30am                              Topic & Pairings released to debaters

10:45-11:45am                     Round 3 

12:15pm                              Topic & Pairings released to debaters

12:30-1:30pm                      Round 4 

1:30-2:15pm                        Lunch Break

2:15pm                               Topic & Pairings released to debaters

2:30-3:30pm                       Round 5 

3:45pm                               Junior and senior finalists announced / motion released

4:00-5:00pm                      Public Junior and senior finals (all debaters, judges, coaches, parents invited) 

5:15-5:45pm                       Awards (all debaters, judges, coaches, parents invited)

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Tournament Contacts:

DSABC General Contact: president@bcdebate.ca

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