This event brought together participants from a number of francophone universities in Eastern Canada. Teams from Université de Montréal, HEC Montréal, Université d'Ottawa, Université du Québec à Trois Rivières (UQTR), the École des sciences de gestion at Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG-UQAM) and École de technologie supérieure (ETS) showcased their oratorical skills and powers of persuasion on a range of subjects. The tournament was specially intended for students new to the practice of debating. 

During the competition, one of Polytechnique's teams performed particularly well. The duo of Victor Sanchez, an undergraduate student in electrical engineering, and Stéphane Dauphin-Pierre, a doctoral student in industrial engineering, finished fourth out of the 22 teams taking part in the tournament. The two engineering students emerged from the preliminary rounds with three victories and one loss and suffered a second defeat during the semi-final against the winning team from Université de Montréal. Victor and Stéphane successfully defended their positions during debates on the benefits of replacing real money with electronic currency and the dangers of reducing the driver's licence to four points. However, they were unable to convince the jury of the need to eliminate the Canadian military. This last defeat prevented them from reaching the

Earning fourth place in the Coupe Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau is a first for Polytechnique, and PolyDébat-SDEP (the school's debating club) hopes that this performance is merely the prelude to a very successful season.

Left to right: Isabelle Jalliffier-Verne (judge), Stéphane Dauphin-Pierre, Nathan Fohlen-Weil, Farell Rocher (judge), Victor Sanchez, Magninin Koné and Pierre-Olivier Hays.

See also:
PolyDébat website