Oct. 16-17, members of Carleton University Debate and Speech (CUDS) advanced to the quarterfinal and final round of the  annual Hart House Debate Tournament at the University of Toronto.

Carleton was represented by both current students and alumni.

CUDS president Waleed Malik and with a friend from another school formed a hybrid team and made it to the semi-final stage.

The team of Romeo Maione and third-year economics student Simon Cameron, made it to the final round.  

Alumnus Adam Coombs and his teammate made it to the final stage of the competition, and current student Cameron Climie was named top novice speaker at the tournament.  

The Hart House debate featured five “in-rounds,” which Malik described as the rounds in which everyone participated.  Once the five rounds were completed, the individuals with the highest amount of points advanced to the “out rounds,” the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.  

This was Malik’s third year attending the Hart House tournament. Although he has been debating for three years, he said that “each debate tournament is a new and novel experience and is completely unpredictable every time.”  

For Climie, the tournament was his first at a university level and he said the experience was “unlike any other.”  

He said his exposure to such a competitive tournament was a learning experience, with the first few rounds being “rough around the edges.”  

Each of the five rounds had a different topic that was given to participants 15 minutes before the start of the debate. Topics were phrased as resolutions, starting with “this house” and then a statement, such as, “This house would never conscript its citizens.”

Both Malik and Climie said the preparation for debate differs from person to person. Malik explained that as a debater, you are expected to “be knowledgeable about the world, current issues and important debates.”  

He said some debaters keep “matter” files that they study the day of debate, but his preferred method of preparation is keeping up to date with current events.
 
Climie said practicing and experiencing debate is what makes participants better at it, as it gives the opportunity to build arguments, phrase and refute arguments and practice how to structure your speech.  
Both Climie and Malik agreed that debate is a learned ability, and Climie specifically said that having knowledge of current events and immersing yourself into debate results in “having a passion for those topic areas by virtue of being around people who are interested in them.”  

CUDS holds rounds on campus twice a week where they use the time to practice and get feedback.