Debating issues akin to 'intellectual boxing'

Debating issues akin to 'intellectual boxing'. Margie Marco takes to the podium as Dave Heppenstall looks on during a session of the Toronto Debating Society at Swansea Town Hall Tuesday evening. Photo/STEVEN DER-GARABEDIAN

"Debating is what you do. We used to throw parties for presidential debates," said Marco, who now calls Toronto home.

When she relocated to Roncesvalles Village about five years ago, it was only natural she would seek out some of the comforts of home. Surfing the internet one day, Marco stumbled upon the Swansea-based Toronto Debating Society conveniently just a short distance from her adopted neighbourhood.

"As far as we know, it's the only free-standing debating society in the world," said Marco, a past president, in a conversation before the Tuesday, Dec. 6 debate issue: Canada needs a flat income tax.

It took only one visit to the debating society and she was hooked.

"I just enjoyed it. It was fun, but it was thoughtful. The idea that you had to think out a position even though you might not agree with it," said Marco. "Public speaking I've got down - I have a public activist background. This is as much about listening as it is about speaking. If you're not paying attention to what the opposition is saying and what your partner is saying, you've got a series of successive speech and not a debate."

President Dave Heppenstall commutes from Mississauga to the Swansea Town Hall where The Toronto Debating Society meets every second and fourth Tuesday from September to May. There was a time when he did so by bicycle or public transit. He says the members are part of the society's appeal.

"It's the people; being surprised with what people can come up with during a debate," he said.

Added vice-president Michelle Warren, "We're a very diverse group."

"(I think) we attract personalities that hunger for this social intellectual boxing."

Already a member of a Toastmasters Club, which is a public speaking organization that helps hone one's skills and confidence to effectively express one's self in a variety of instances, Warren said she was looking to take her presentation skills to a new level. The Bloor West Village resident said she saw a sign for the Toronto Debating Society stapled to a post along Bloor Street West.

"I thought it sounded like fun - if that doesn't sound too nerdy," she said.

Debating, described Warren, is "the art of persuasive argument and discussion."

"For me, this is the art of conversation," she said.

Warren was a member of her high school debate team. She says she's always been intrigued by the spoken word. A one-time operations manager for a computer hardware manufacturer, Warren joined Toastmasters and then The Toronto Debating Society in an effort to boost her communication skills. Now, she's a life coach, who conducts workshops on such topics as leadership. The skills still apply in her new profession.

Debating, said Heppenstall, is "the ability to divorce yourself emotionally from an issue."

"It stretches your brain muscle. It broadens your perspective on issues," he said.

It's safe to say that the majority of members are competitive. One of the society's best debates, said Marco, was 'Cake versus Pie Be it Resolved.'

"Cheesecake was not considered cake," said Marco. "Cake won because it was a funnier and more coherent argument."

The Toronto Debating Society dates back to 1995 when it was first known as the Swansea Debating and Public Speaking Society. Jim Smith, with help from David Murray and Peter Goldthorpe, can take credit for its creation. The first debate was held in November that year with the motion: This house resolves Remembrance Day should be forgotten.

Still a member today, Smith says debating is "such fun."

"It's a blood sport. I provide you the audience and the rest is up to you," he said. "It's the ability to convince people of your point of view whether you believe it or not."

Smith, who's British, said it's energizing just to argue against what the other person is saying.

"I've drawn out the aggressiveness (in Canadians)," he said.

For the first few years or so, the society met monthly, however, several members felt they lost some of their skills between debates so it was decided to increase the frequency of meetings to twice monthly. Today, the society has grown to 24 members.

Gerry Lawrence is one of those members. He was a teacher for 25 years and said his two decades-plus experience at the front of a classroom didn't prepare him for debating.

"I was scared silly," he admitted before the society's December debate. "It's taken me 10 years to get comfortable. I just enjoy the challenge of it and the people are great."

Lawrence and Smith collaborated as the opposition in the 'Canada needs a flat tax' debate and were victorious that evening.

There is absolutely no experience necessary to join the society and it's always free to visit and participate in post-debate discussions.

"It's a really fun way to spend a Tuesday night," said Warren, who added that members range in age from 23 to 70 and come from a variety of backgrounds. "It's better than watching TV in my mind."

Afterward, the group typically continues the debate at a local pub.

If you would like further details, visit www.debating.ca