Ben Gillis and Jack Farrell win the National Canadian High School Debate Championship
This past weekend, Grade Twelve students Ben Gillis and Jack Farrell won the coveted National Canadian High School Debate Championship for the first time our school’s history.
This past weekend, Grade Twelve students Ben Gillis and Jack Farrell won the coveted National Canadian High School Debate Championship for the first time our school’s history. Ben and Jack are both members of the Canadian National Team and they competed against more than sixty top teams in Canada to prevail as opposition in the final round against Upper Canada College on the topic of whether Canada should cut ties with the Monarchy.
Ben and Jack have had an incredible run together as debate partners, and they have won at least once, every local and provincial junior and senior high school title. They have also placed first at university tournaments hosted by Queens, Dalhousie and St. F.X, and have been regular finalists at McGill and Hart House. Internationally, they have twice qualified to represent Canada at the International Competition for Young Debaters at Cambridge and Oxford, and were the top ranking Team Canada pairing at Pan Ams in Argentina. Ben also travelled to Germany with Team Canada in 2016, where they won the silver medal in a final against England at the World High School tournament.
Individually, they have consistently ranked among the top debaters nationally and internationally, and have secured more than ten top individual debater awards at competitions across Canada.
Next weekend will be their final debate tournament together representing Halifax Grammar. They are 1 of 16 teams selected from the four regions across Canada to compete in Ottawa at the finals of the Confederation Cup. The Confederation Cup celebrates the 150th anniversary of Canada as a Confederation, and is supported by the Aurea Foundation and Co-Chaired by former Prime Ministers, the Right Honourable Paul Martin and The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney. We wish them the best of luck.
Ben and Jack want to extend kudos and special thanks to coach Josh Judah for all his dedication, support, and good humour. It has been a great ride!
