IROQUOIS RIDGE DEBATE CLUB
Dear Debaters, Coaches, and Student Presidents,
We are delighted to invite you to the first ever Ridge Debate Tournament which will be taking
place from ​Friday, April 21st to Saturday, April 22nd​. This tournament will consist of 72
teams at Iroquois Ridge High School in Oakville, Ont. and features judges from across the
province.
Our tournament is designed to give junior debaters in Grade 9 and 10 more experience and
prepare them for bigger tournaments. For this reason, senior debaters in Grades 11 and 12 who
have broke to open rounds at Hart House,Western, Queen’s, McGill, or the provincial Oxford
Cup are​ not eligible to compete​ at this event. All debaters in grade 9 and 10 are welcome,
regardless of break experience. Senior debaters are encouraged to judge the tournament.
The Ridge Debate Tournament will feature​ 5 rounds​ of guaranteed high-quality C
​ anadian
Parliamentary (CP)​ debate, breaking to hidden quarterfinals and then open semifinals and
finals. Awards will be given out to semifinalists, finalists, and the top-10 speakers at the event.
We will also be giving out the “Curry-Eden Achievement Award” to the best placing speaker who
is attending their first tournament. The award honours the CAs who introduced debate to IRHS.
The tournament aims to deliver very high quality judges and motions. It has recruited an
Adjudication Core from seven different institutions to make this possible. All motions will go
through a scrupulous vetting process and must be approved two weeks before the tournament.
We hope to ensure this eliminates the possibility of bad motions and maximizes the pleasure of
junior competitors this event.
Registration for this event is due ​Thursday, March 9th.​ Fees of $90/team must be paid and the
names of both debaters and judges must be confirmed by this date.
We look forward to welcoming you to The Ridge this upcoming April!
Yours Sincerely,
The Ridge Debate Organization Committee
Registration
Clubs are able to register teams
​
by emailing ​[email protected]. The registration
deadline is March 9th, 2017. In order to receive spots, we must also receive full payment and all
waivers by the deadline
The registration fee will be $90 per team (​ or $45 per debater). Coaches and judges are not
required to pay fees. All cheques can be made payable to: “Iroquois Ridge High School” and
mailed to the school. Mailing address:
Ridge Debate Club
Mr. J. Schaffer
Iroquois Ridge High School
1123 Glenashton Drive
Oakville, ON L6H 5M1
There will be a soft team cap of eight (8) teams per institution. Each institution is required to
register (1) judge for every (2) teams​ they send to the tournament. Judges may be coaches or
parents but senior debaters are preferred. Additional teams may be requested by institutions at
the time of registration and will be confirmed after the final registration deadline.
All judges must register at the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13L_UYDTmzsU7Q8bo5SDnk-iTPtgYRWXnWyLXP0ATRDY/e
dit#responses
Debate Format
All rounds will be taking place in traditional straight-link C
​ anadian Parliamentary (CP) style
debate. Below is a style guide:
Prime Minister (7 Minutes) - The goal of the Prime Minister speech is to define the terms of the
debate by putting forward the model. From there the speaker is expected to give two to four
arguments defending the motion.
Member of Opposition (7 minutes) - The Role of the Member of Opposition speech is to briefly
refute the arguments made by the Prime Minister in the previous speech and challenge the
model if necessary. The speaker is also expected to raise two to four arguments outlining why
the motion must fall.
Minister of the Crown (7 minutes) - If the speaker intends on bringing forward a new argument it
is highly recommended that this be done towards the beginning of the speech in order for the
other side to have appropriate time to respond. The speaker is expected to refute the arguments
made by the previous speaker and rebuild the arguments made by their partner.
Leader of Opposition (10 minutes) - In this speech it is highly discouraged that speakers
introduce new arguments to the debate as it is unfair to the government team however new
refutation and new analysis (within reason) is permissible. This speaker is to refute the
arguments made by the government bench as a whole and rebuild the constructive material
brought up by their partner. Towards the end of the speech, it is expected that this speaker
summarize the round into themes and outline why the opposition bench has won the debate.
Prime Minister Rebuttal (3 minutes) - The Prime Minister returns to the floor to deliver a
summary speech outlining the key points of clash that occurred in the round and why their team
has won on that clash. ​No new material is to be brought up in this speech​.
There are two variations to Canadian Parliamentary Style that will be allowed at the Ridge
Debate Tournament.
1) LO - Split: Opposition teams can chose to do an LO split where instead of a 10 minute
speech the Leader of Opposition gives a 7 minute speech after which the Member of Opposition
returns to the floor and gives a 3 minute summary speech, before the PMR.
2) PMRE: Government teams can elect to have a Prime Minister's Rebuttal Extension in which
one minute is removed from the Prime Minister speech and is added onto their rebuttal speech.
This means the PM speech is 6 min and the rebuttal speech becomes 4 min. In PMRE,
protected time in the PM substantive is only 30 seconds at the start and end of the speech.
Teams must indicate before the round starts if they are electing to use LO split or PMRE.
Note: There will be ​no prepared resolution for this tournament. All motions will be impromptu.
Adjudication Team
The Ridge Debate Tournament is proud to announce​ ​Chief Adjudicators Ethan Curry and Zeus
Eden. Both have many years of debate experience. Ethan will chair the motions committee; he
is the top first year debater on the Canadian university debate circuit and was the past president
of the Ridge Debate Club. Zeus will chair the judging committee; he has broke at various
tournaments in the high school circuit and has served as a member of the executive at Ridge
Debate for the past 3 years.
The CAs will be joined by Deputy Chief Adjudicators Gautier Boyrie (WOSS), Selina Li
(Bayview), James Coady (Hart House), and Assistant Chief Adjudicator Sophie Wu (IRHS). Our
adjudication core is dedicated to ensure that the tournament has high quality judges and
motions in order for new debaters to gain quality debate experience.
Find the full biographies of our Adjuication Core and other announcements on the Ridge Debate
Tournament Facebook page found here: h
​ ttps://www.facebook.com/events/620538321465288/​.
Judging
Every room at this tournament is expected to receive high-quality judging. However, in order for
this tournament to run on time, judges will be limited to a ​maximum time of 15 minutes to
reach a decision and send their ballots to the tabs room. Judges will also have an additional 10
minutes afterwards to give feedback to the debaters.
The Adj Core is creating panels of two judges, to maximize the number of rooms that benefit
from panel judging. So, if no consensus can be reached after 15 minutes of deliberation, the
chair is expected to make the final call. The chair also determines speaker scores, consulting
the scoring guide released at the Judges’ Briefing.
To further increase the efficiency of our tabs room, we are also encouraging all judges with
smartphones to take pictures of their ballots and email them to the tabs room as soon as a
decision has been made. ​EMAIL [email protected] with subject TABS.
**Judges who opt out of this process will be responsible for delivering their ballots to the tabs
room after giving feedback to the debaters.
Equity
The Ridge Debate Tournament is committed to promoting a safe, fun, and comfortable
environment for all competitors. Equity is an important part of that promise. Debaters who feel
they have been personally attacked by another competitor due to their race, ethnicity, religion,
colour, gender, sexual orientation, or disability are encouraged to seek redress.
We are committed to taking action on equity violations, including giving verbal warnings to
offenders and if necessary, removing repeat offenders from the event. Any equity violations over
the course of the tournament can be referred to ​[email protected] with ​subject
EQUITY. You can also approach Stephen Milek (IRHS Vice-President), who will be the Equity
Officer at this tournament.
Tabs
Our tabs director at this tournament will be Jessica Meng. She has taken calculus and
accounting at the Ridge and is for all intents and purposes IS a Google Sheets ® professional.
She is developing formulas to determine pairings and judge bracketing and is excited to take
part in her first debate event. Brackets will be folded for the first three rounds at this tournament.
School protection will not be enforced. Judge protection will be in-place for in rounds. Any other
questions concerning tabs should be directed to the C
​ hief Adjudicators.
PRELIMINARY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday
3:00-4:30PM – Day 1 Registration (​In the Forum)
4:30-5:15PM – Debater and Judges Briefings (​In Studio Theatre/Staff Room)
5:15-6:00PM – Dinner to be served in the cafeteria
6:00-6:15PM – Draw for Round #1 ​(General Assembly)
6:15-7:30PM – ​Round #1
7:30-8:00PM – Break for all Debaters and Judges (cookies served)
8:00-8:15PM – Draw for Round #2 ​(General Assembly)
8:15-9:30PM – ​Round #2
Saturday
8:00-8:45 AM – Day 2 Debater Check-In ​(In the Forum)
​Breakfast - Coffee and Scones to be served
8:45-9:00AM – Draw for Round #3 ​(General Assembly)
9:00-10:15AM – ​Round #3
10:30-10:45AM – Draw for Round #4 ​(General Assembly)
10:45-12:00PM – ​Round #4 (Closed Adjudication)
12:00-12:45PM – Lunch to be served in the Cafeteria
12:45-1:00 PM – Draw for Round #5 ​(General Assembly)
1:00-2:15PM – ​Round #5 (Hidden Quarter-Finals)
2:15-3:45PM – Break Announcement and ​Semifinals ​(Studio Theatre/Library)
3:45-5:15PM – ​Grand Finals ​(Studio Theatre)
5:15-6:00PM – Awards Ceremony
STUDENT LIABILITY WAIVER
All participants attending the Ridge Debate Tournament must sign and
return this waiver by March 9th, 2017, in order to be able to participate.
Participant Name: ______________________________________
Debate Institution: _____________________________________
Supervisor Name: ________________________
Supervisor Phone: (
)
-
By signing this form, I recognize and affirm that:
1. I am ​fully aware that the participant​ (named above) will be attending the Ridge
Debate Tournament on April 21-22nd with his/her institution.
2. The participant will ​exemplify good behaviour​ throughout the tournament. He/she
is required to obey the Halton District School Board Code of Conduct, listen to all
supervising staff members, and obey any rules set forth by Iroquois Ridge High
School at the start of the tournament.
a. The Organization Committee reserves the right to remove any debater who
fails to abide by proper school and tournament etiquette.
3. The participant will ​respect fellow debaters​ and abide by the equity policy. He/she
is not to make derogatory or offensive remarks on the basis of race, colour, ethnic
origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any other aspect of personal identity.
4. That the participant is an official member of the institution listed above.
5. The participant will be accompanied by the listed supervisor. This may be a teacher,
debate coach, parent, or student executive. A ​supervisor must be registered​ on the
first day of the tournament and assumes full responsibility for the participants
representing their institution.
_________________________
Debater Signature
________________________
Parent Signature
______________________
Supervisor Signature