Canada Withdraws Offer to Host "Second" WSDC
While Canada never offered to host a "second" tournament, people not going to Thailand treated it like that. This letter makes Canada's position clear as they withdraw their bid.
-Editor
Dear TJ, the Thai Org Com and the WSDC community,
On behalf of the Canadian Students Federation (CSDF) and in response to the email thread that has occurred throughout the day (and emails that we have received behind the scenes), I would like to confirm that the result of the vote to keep Thailand the official host of WSDC 2014 does mean that the Canadian bid has been withdrawn.
We did say at the outset, when we offered it, that it was intended to provide an alternative to the prospect of there being no WSDC this year (when it looked like the option was to cancel). We did not envision a situation where there would be two Worlds in one year - the concerns raised in the forum about what that would do to the competition and the reputation of WSDC are most definitely shared by Canada.
We believe that the community has engaged in lengthy and in many ways, revealing, discussions about what this championship means to us individually and collectively as a group, and we most definitely do not want to do anything to diminish or tarnish its reputation.
Each individual nation will need to determine their own level of risk tolerance and at the end of the day, determine if they will attend this year's event; we believe that the organizers are aware of this and have proven themselves responsive to the concerns of the community by trying to be as open and transparent as possible with the political situation in their country. At the end of the day, we will each make the best decision possible for our students.
We in Canada wholeheartedly support the efforts of the Thai debating community to host this event - and as a community we have repeatedly reiterated our confidence in their ability to do so - it is now time to assist them in this final lead up to the championships.
Respectively,
Tracey Lee
Thailand WSDC, co-CA
-Editor
Dear TJ, the Thai Org Com and the WSDC community,
On behalf of the Canadian Students Federation (CSDF) and in response to the email thread that has occurred throughout the day (and emails that we have received behind the scenes), I would like to confirm that the result of the vote to keep Thailand the official host of WSDC 2014 does mean that the Canadian bid has been withdrawn.
We did say at the outset, when we offered it, that it was intended to provide an alternative to the prospect of there being no WSDC this year (when it looked like the option was to cancel). We did not envision a situation where there would be two Worlds in one year - the concerns raised in the forum about what that would do to the competition and the reputation of WSDC are most definitely shared by Canada.
We believe that the community has engaged in lengthy and in many ways, revealing, discussions about what this championship means to us individually and collectively as a group, and we most definitely do not want to do anything to diminish or tarnish its reputation.
Each individual nation will need to determine their own level of risk tolerance and at the end of the day, determine if they will attend this year's event; we believe that the organizers are aware of this and have proven themselves responsive to the concerns of the community by trying to be as open and transparent as possible with the political situation in their country. At the end of the day, we will each make the best decision possible for our students.
We in Canada wholeheartedly support the efforts of the Thai debating community to host this event - and as a community we have repeatedly reiterated our confidence in their ability to do so - it is now time to assist them in this final lead up to the championships.
Respectively,
Tracey Lee
Thailand WSDC, co-CA
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