Team Canada 2024 development squad was selected following an online qualifying tournament in April, 2023.  Participants debated in all six speaker places and were ranked based on tournament performance, past competition success, and an interview. The team’s season started with an in-person training camp in Toronto, Ontario in August, 2023

Our team in alphabetical order by last name …

Returning Members from the 2023 Team

• Barry Gu (AB)
• Summit Kawakami (AB)

• Miriam D’Amico (QC)
• Neil He (AB)
• Michelle Liu (BC)
• Isabelle Monsman (SK)
• Caylee Pan (ON)

• Jinjou Wang (AB)
• Julian Zhang (ON)
• Vanessa Zhang (BC)
• Jin Zhou (ON)
• Leo Zhu (BC)

Team Co-Coaches – Brent Schmidt and Arsalan Ghaemi

From the small lakeside town of Goderich Ontario, Brent is a history graduate from the University of Toronto/Western, and has been coaching debate of all levels for nearly 10 years. As a debater, Brent was a national top speaker, and champion of numerous university tournaments.

Brent’s main interests outside of debating surround history of all kinds (though a particular focus on the Cold War), as well as fealty to almost exclusively terrible sports franchises.

An Iranian immigrant, raised in Coquitlam British Columbia, Arsalan is an alumnus of the University of British Columbia, where he studied Political Science.

Arsalan has been involved in the Canadian debate circuit for nearly 11 years, and as a coach for more than 6 years.

He is an often disappointed fan of the Vancouver Canucks, while probably not as much a fan of the Maple Leafs.   Arsalan’s excited to work with, teach, and learn from some of the brightest young minds on the planet.

Sponsorship

Team Canada would not be able to represent Canada without the generous support of the community. We would like to thank our generous sponsors, who help make it possible for the Team to compete around the world.