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Home / 2023 / March / 27 / UBCO students debate Canada’s affordability crisis—could a temporary wealth tax help?
Campus Life, Community Engagement, Community Events, Teaching & Learning

UBCO students debate Canada’s affordability crisis—could a temporary wealth tax help?

Annual Roger Watts event tackles tough issues like taxation and the cost of living

March 27, 2023

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UBCO students will debate if a temporary wealth tax could help with Canada’s affordability crisis.

What: Roger Watts Debate: Be it resolved that Canada’s affordability crisis justifies a temporary wealth tax
Who: UBC Okanagan student debaters
When: Wednesday, March 29 at 5:30 pm
Where: Mary Irwin Theatre, Rotary Centre for the Arts, 421 Cawston Ave., Kelowna

In a world of division, debate matters.

As many Canadians struggle with the rising costs of food, gas and accommodation, some wonder if the government should or could do more.

These struggles are at the centre of this year’s Roger Watts Debate, a community event where top UBC Okanagan student debaters take the stage to argue for and against a timely, controversial topic: Be it resolved that Canada’s affordability crisis justifies a temporary wealth tax.

Debate organizer Dr. Julien Picault, an Economics Professor in UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, says he’s looking forward to the return of the in-person debate.

“It’s going to be a really fun evening,” says Dr. Picault. “We try to choose topics that Canadians are thinking about, and this year is no exception as inflation and housing costs are weighing heavily on the minds of many.

“We all endure the effect of the affordability crisis in Canada, and many have strong feelings about whether or not a temporary wealth tax would be viable or even fair. That’s exactly why this debate is necessary, so we can all understand the differing perspectives and arguments at hand,” he adds.

Student debaters will be evaluated by a panel of community judges and a $1,000 prize will be awarded for first place, with $500 for the runners-up.

The annual debate is named after the late Roger Watts, a respected member of the Okanagan’s legal community.

This event is free, open to the public, and supported by local donors and community sponsors.

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

Media Contact

Patty Wellborn
Media Relations Strategist
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250 317 0293
E-mail: patty.wellborn@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Advisory
More content from: 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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