Between classes, extracurriculars, and internships, third-year law student Azure Dumas Pilon’s schedule is jam-packed. However, she has found solace in her busyness, along with other students such as Thomas Roussel, BCL/JD ‘23, Zakaria El-Hannach, U3 Engineering, and Kamil Chaoui, L2, as a member of McGill’s Francophone debate club. 

Dumas Pilon’s previous debating experience in CEGEP at Brébeuf’s debate club pushed her to get involved. After becoming a member of the club in 2021, she soon became aware of its unclear structure.

“We [Dumas Pilon and Roussel] gravitated towards the club de débat francophone at McGill to continue this passion,” Dumas Pilon explained in an interview with The Tribune. “The club existed, but unofficially and it was very nebulous. It was confusing. Who ran the club? What was going on? […] It was really disorganized.”

Interested in the organization’s potential, Dumas Pilon and her friends worked to remodel its structure and make it an official club. The club, which currently is an interim Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) club, hopes to gain full status and benefit from the accompanying privileges. With the support of the Faculty of Law and alumni, the club has twice hosted its own competition, the Coupe Laurier, the latest of which was held in the offices of Dentons law firm. 

The club plays an important role in McGill’s extracurricular environment, offering a place where both experienced and novice debaters and native and non-native French speakers can meet and practice debating. To that end, the club partners with other francophone initiatives on campus, such as Eloquentia Montréal. 

“We try to be inclusive, and I think that having a francophone space to do that is also very beneficial not only to McGill’s francophone community because it gives us a place to meet [….] It’s also a place where we have […] English-speaking debaters who will come to practice with us to improve their French, or English-speaking students who want to learn French,” Dumas Pilon explained. “After our practices, we go for a drink, or we have wine and cheese evenings, we have Christmas evenings where we make little gingerbread houses and have fun together [….] It’s really a great opportunity to learn French, to practice your French, or even just to exchange with people who have a similar background or a similar culture to [one] another.”

As part of the Ligue de débat universitaire et collégiale (LiDUC), the club also brings participants across different universities and CEGEPs together around a common passion. This exposure helps members foster a community and establish contacts across the province. As this appreciation for debate transcends disciplinary boundaries, Dumas Pilon mentioned her connections with students in medicine at the Université de Laval, or in law at the Université du Québec à Montréal, among others.

“These contacts can also be beneficial to my professional network. And it’s people you know who have something in common with you. So I think there are all kinds of people, many advantages to the club, then it depends how you want to interact with the club,” Dumas Pilon said. 

Despite her busy schedule, Dumas Pilon manages to remain grounded by balancing out her commitments. 

“I’m a big believer in balancing your academic, extracurricular, professional, and personal lives. And if you don’t take time in your personal life, all the other spheres of your life are going to be unbalanced and you’re not going to be able to perform as you should,” Dumas Pilon reflected. 

This introspection also pushed the law student to consider what motivates her interest in law. Volunteering at McGill’s Legal Information Clinic and giving back to the community are crucial aspects of her goals. 

“It’s about giving back to the community with the privilege I have. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t feel good about my studies,” she said. “I wouldn’t feel good on a daily basis because I’d feel like I was only benefiting from my studies for myself. So for me, it was a personal realization to work on. But what’s important to me? Where am I going to put my time?” 

*Interviews were translated from French by the author.