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Home / 2022 / March / 25 / Should government invoke laws to end public defiance?
Community Engagement, Community Events

Should government invoke laws to end public defiance?

UBCO student debaters tackle timely subject at ninth annual Roger Watts Debate

March 25, 2022

A photo of a group of people with their arms raised in disobedience

On Wednesday, March 30, top student debaters will argue whether the Emergencies Act is justifiably used to quell civil disobedience.

What: The Roger Watts Debate: Be it resolved that the Emergencies Act is justifiably used to quell civil disobedience.
Who: Top UBCO student debaters
When: Wednesday, March 30 beginning at 5:30 pm
Where: Zoom webinar

As concerns around issues like free speech and freedom rise amongst Canadians, UBC Okanagan student debaters will square off in a provoking and timely debate on the use of governmental power: Be it resolved that the Emergencies Act is justifiably used to quell civil disobedience.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act triggered strong, sometimes extreme reactions even beyond our national borders. This issue is top-of-mind and has been generating global attention,” says event organizer Dr. Julien Picault, Associate Professor of Teaching in Economics. “It is a good example of how polarized views directly affect our lives and why we need more civil conversations and debates.”

On Wednesday, March 30, the community is invited to watch as top student debaters argue their case before a panel of local judges who will then decide the winners.

Prizes of $1,000 will be awarded to first-place, while runners-up will win $500. Student participants will also have the opportunity to compete for the People’s Choice Award, with $500 up for grabs.

The Roger Watts Debate is a partnership of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences’ Department of Economics, Philosophy and Political Science and a community advisory committee. The annual event provides a public forum to debate important issues of the day and is named after the late Roger Watts, a respected member of the Okanagan’s legal community, a skilled orator and strong advocate.

This virtual event is free and open to all, with online pre-registration required.

To register, visit: epp.ok.ubc.ca/about/roger-watts-debate

Media Contact

Nathan Skolski
E-mail: nathan.skolski@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Advisory
More content from: Economics, Philosophy and Political Science, Irving K Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

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About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

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We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

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