The Munk Debates are a biannual series of debates on major policy issues held in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. They are run by the Aurea Foundation. A charitable foundation set up by Peter Munk

Peter Munk

Peter Munk, CC is a Canadian businessman. He is the chairman and founder of the mining company Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining corporation.-Early years:...

, founder of Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...

 and his wife. The debate series was founded in 2008 by Munk and Rudyard Griffiths

Rudyard Griffiths

Rudyard Griffiths is a TV co-anchor, author, and social entrepreneur. He is the co-host of the daily business and politics television show National Affairs on the CTV News Channel. He has edited eleven collections of essays on Canadian and international political and historical themes and is the...

, who moderates most of the debates.

The event is held in Toronto, at steadily larger venues as it has proven popular. Tickets are sold to the general public, and sell out shortly after being made available.

At each debate a poll is taken of audience both before and after the debate. The winner of the debate is determined by how many people are persuaded to move from one side to the other.

Throughout its run the debates have been broadcast on CBC Radio

CBC Radio

CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...

's Ideas

Ideas (radio show)

Ideas is a long running scholarly radio documentary show on CBC Radio One. Co-created by Phyllis Webb and William A. Young, the show premiered in 1965 under the title The Best Ideas You'll Hear Tonight...

. The more recent ones have also appeared on international broadcasters including BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 and CSPAN.

Debates

Date	Topic	Pro	Con	Winner	Swing	Venue
May 26, 2008	The world is a safer place with a republican in the White House	Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...  and Niall Ferguson Niall Ferguson Niall Campbell Douglas Ferguson is a British historian. His specialty is financial and economic history, particularly hyperinflation and the bond markets, as well as the history of colonialism.....	Samantha Power Samantha Power Samantha Power is an Irish American academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council...  and Richard Holbrooke Richard Holbrooke Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....	Pro	34%	Royal Ontario Museum Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
Dec 1, 2008	If countries like Sudan, Somalia and Burma will not end their man-made humanitarian crises, the international community should	Gareth Evans Gareth Evans (politician) Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive...  and Mia Farrow Mia Farrow Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...	John Bolton John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...  and Rick Hillier Rick Hillier General Rick Hillier, CMM, MSC, CD , is the former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces. He held this appointment from February 4, 2005 to July 1, 2008. He retired on July 1, 2008, and was replaced by former Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff Walter Natynczyk...	Con	18%	Royal Ontario Museum Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
June 1, 2009	Is foreign aid to the developing countries doing more harm than good?	Hernando de Soto and Dambisa Moyo Dambisa Moyo Dr. Dambisa Moyo is an international economist and New York Times best-selling author of both Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa, published in 2009, and How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly - And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead, published in...	Stephen Lewis Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis, is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of the those years as leader, his father David Lewis was simultaneously the leader of the Federal New Democratic Party...  and Paul Collier Paul Collier Paul Collier, CBE is a Professor of Economics, Director for the Centre for the Study of African Economies at The University of Oxford and Fellow of St Antony's College. From 1998 – 2003 he was the director of the Development Research Group of the World Bank.-Life:Collier is a specialist in...	Pro	4%	Royal Ontario Museum Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
Dec 1, 2009	Climate change is mankind's defining crisis, and demands a commensurate response	George Monbiot George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...  and Elizabeth May Elizabeth May Elizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...	Bjorn Lomborg and Nigel Lawson Nigel Lawson Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...	Con	16%	The Royal Conservatory of Music
June 7, 2010	I would rather get sick in the United States than Canada	Bill Frist Bill Frist William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...  and David Gratzer David Gratzer David George Gratzer is a physician, columnist, author, Congressional expert witness, and a senior fellow at both the Manhattan Institute and the Montreal Economic Institute...	Howard Dean Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...  and Robert Bell	Con	7%	The Royal Conservatory of Music
Nov 26, 2010	Religion is a force for good in the world.	Tony Blair Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...	Christopher Hitchens Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...	Con	4%	Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...
June 17, 2011	The 21st century will belong to China.	Niall Ferguson Niall Ferguson Niall Campbell Douglas Ferguson is a British historian. His specialty is financial and economic history, particularly hyperinflation and the bond markets, as well as the history of colonialism.....  and David Daokui Li David Daokui Li David Daokui Li is a Chinese economist and the Director of the Center for China in the World Economy at the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management and is the Mansfield Freeman Professor of Economics...	Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...  and Fareed Zakaria Fareed Zakaria Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became Editor-At-Large of Time magazine...	Con	23%	Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...
Nov 14, 2011	North America faces a Japan-style era of high unemployment and slow growth.	Paul Krugman Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...  and David Rosenberg	Lawrence Summers Lawrence Summers Lawrence Henry Summers is an American economist. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.Summers is the...  and Ian Bremmer Ian Bremmer Ian Bremmer is an American political scientist specializing in US foreign policy, states in transition, and global political risk. He is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk research and consulting firm...	Pro	20%	Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...