Midterm in Ottawa & Montreal

19 December 2015Romy G, Allard ‘17; Photo by Tegwyn C, Allard ’17

On an early November morning, the thirteen sleepy students of Brentwood’s SSUNS delegation rose to travel to Montreal and Ottawa for a week of world-saving and exploration of Eastern Canadian culture which included such delights as beaver tails and poutine. Accompanied by our illustrious coaches, Ms. Steele-MacInnis and Mr. Bryant, we arrived in Montreal, and immediately got down to business – five pairs of BCS debaters participated in four rounds of debate (merely a warm-up to us delegates) at the Aristotle Cup Tournament the day after we arrived. Marianopolis College, the host school, was very gracious to the BC contingent and we learned some key aspects of the Canadian Parliamentary Debate Style. With the warm-up done and dusted, we spent the rest of the days between the tournament and conference exploring two of Canada’s most prominent and historical cities. With a few days until the main event, we filled up the time by visiting a myriad of exciting sites in Montreal and Ottawa – in Montreal, we climbed the city’s namesake, Mont Royal, and were given a walking tour by BCS alum Calder Mackintosh. Many of us had sore feet by the end of a couple hours of keeping up with Calder’s long strides! Ottawa consisted of an exciting glimpse of Justin Trudeau’s chocolate locks, and a solemn day of remembrance at the National Remembrance Day ceremony, where MUN Captain Wyatt Tanton laid a wreath with BCS emblazoned on it at the National Memorial. We enjoyed a rather cramped but certainly interesting stay at the Old Jail Hostel in Ottawa, which is literally a former jail that has been tweaked to fit traveller’s needs. No trip to Ottawa would be complete without exploration of the city’s political and cultural attractions, and we visited sites such as the National War Museum, the National Gallery, the Governor General’s House, the Parliament Buildings, the Canadian Museum of History, and the home of Canada’s Supreme Court. After sightseeing, walking, eating and completing other touristy activities, we took the train back to Montreal – SSUNS was imminent. SSUNS, or the Secondary Schools’ United Nations Symposium, is the oldest and largest Model UN conference in Canada, and we were honoured and excited to be participating in such a prestigious event. We had delegates in a wide variety of committees, ranging from a Russian oil company to an NGO mental health organisation to one revolving around the dispute between the Spanish and Aztecs. We were also pleasantly surprised to see Bobbie de Wet (another BCS alum) as an organiser for SSUNS, and we were also able to catch up with Maria Fustic (also BCS alum – they pop up everywhere!). During four days of busy and productive committee sessions, resolutions were passed, allies and foes were made, and we thirteen then realized that we had to get home to start school again. Many of our tour members hope to be able to do a trip to SSUNS again, as the experience was seminal for our development as debaters and a great way to spend a midterm break. Romy G, Allard ‘17

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