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Dear Participants, Judges, Volunteers, and Coaches,

​Congratulations on your qualification to the BC Provincial Debating

Championship, the Law Foundation Cup. ​The DSABC is pleased to invite

you to attend this prestigious event.

Event Information:
Venue: Zoom Video Conferencing

A technical guide for participants will be sent out 1 week prior to the event

Lower Mainland Banquet Venue: 

Delta Hotels Burnaby Conference Centre (4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby)

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Date: Friday, March 3rd - Saturday, March 4th 2023

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Registration and Fees:

• Registration will be open until Tuesday, February 21st at Midnight​

• Registration fee per team: $40 | Submit Payment Here |

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Registration Links
Participants and Judges | Register Here |
This form is for members with qualifying teams to register their teams and judges.

Extra Judges | Register Here |

Volunteers | Register Here |
This form is for student volunteers who wish to act as moderators/timekeepers.
This a great opportunity for young debaters to come and watch high-level debate!
It also makes the judge’s job much easier and we always round UP volunteer hours!

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Banquet:

• There will be an in-person banquet for all students located in the lower mainland (LMW, LMN, LME, LMS). At the Delta Hotels Burnaby Conference Centre (4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby).

• All lower mainland competitors will receive a ticket to the banquet at no additional cost, thanks to the generosity of the Law Foundation.

• Each school will receive one ticket for a chaperone for free. Additional tickets can be purchased for parents/coaches/chaperones for $70 per person on a first-come, first-served basis until the event reaches capacity. If tickets sell out, more may go on sale after student registration closes.

• Purchase Tickets for Additional Attendees Here 

• Other regions will be receiving this funding to allocate towards their own regional interests.

 

Judging Expectations:

• All schools are expected to provide one judge per team.

• Grade 12 students with significant debate experience may act as judges in the junior category.

• Judges must be fluent in English and comfortable with following fast-paced speeches using high-level vocabulary.

• Delegations failing to provide appropriate judges without first alerting the tournament organizer may be subject to disqualification, prohibition from advancement to Nationals, or other appropriate sanctions.

 

Tournament Format:

• Senior Debaters (Grades 10, 11, 12)

  • 2 rounds of unbracketed prepared debate in Cross-Examination Style 

  • 3 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in Canadian National Debate Format

  • Impromptu Senior Final in CNDF for the top 2 teams

• Junior Debaters (Grades 6, 7, 8, 9)

  • 2 rounds of unbracketed prepared debate in Cross-Examination Style 

  • 3 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in Canadian National Debate Format

 

Prepared Rounds​

• Junior: Be it resolved that, on balance, BC Civil Resolution tribunals are a better method for resolving civil disputes under $35,000 than BC's Small Claims Court.

• Senior: Be it resolved that the sentencing of criminals take the socio-economic background of the offender into account.

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Debate Information

• Students will argue both sides of the prepared motion and will be guaranteed both a different opponent each round and that they will not oppose teams from their own school.

• Once bracketing begins in round 3 there will be no protections and pairings will be based solely on win/loss record and average team score. This may result in repeat pairings and/or same-school matches.

Impromptu Rounds

• All impromptu rounds will have different topics with 30 minutes of preparation time.

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

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Advancement and Qualification

• Students must participate in the same teams and categories as in their regionals

• Teams competing in the Junior Category are eligible for qualification to the Junior Debate Nationals

• Teams competing in the Senior Category are eligible for qualification to the Senior Debate Nationals

• Any Grade 10 student who places in the top 50th percentile of the senior category will advance to the BC Qualifiers for a chance to attend the Canadian National Team Tryouts. Remaining spots at this event will be given to juniors in ranked order until we have 24 qualifiers (6 spots are reserved from each category)

 

Chaperone Policy

• Students are required to have a chaperone on the call at all times. 

• At the lower mainland banquet, schools must have an official chaperone present.

• 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

  • Including risk management, health, and tournament-related decisions. 

• The chaperone can also act as a judge to satisfy a team’s judging requirement. 

• Senior students are not considered chaperones. 

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

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Observer Policy

• Registered observers are permitted to enter the Zoom call and watch students under their affiliation provided everyone in the room feels comfortable with this.

• Observers should have their cameras and microphones off throughout the rounds and should not intervene in any way.

• Observers are not permitted to communicate with debaters during prep time or while rounds are taking place

• Register as an Observer Here

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Preliminary Schedule