bout de papier, Vol. 31, No. 1 (2020), pp. 2–3
DEAR READERS,
As many of you have noted, bout de papier has been missing in action for a year. Internally, we suffered significant losses and hit a production stall, from which we are recovering. Separately, our Association’s circumstances are evolving. As this issue goes to print, the moment is ripe for a reflection on the orientation of the magazine. In order to properly do so, bout de papier will pause production after this issue.
L’APASE créera un groupe de travail dont le mandat sera de se pencher sur l’avenir du magazine, son rôle dans l’écologie de l’Association, sa modernisation mainte fois repoussée et les ressources nécessaires à son renouveau. Dans les mots de Cael Husband, « it’s time for a re-bout ». Je souscris pleinement à cette approche.
Cette étape, importante dans la vie de ce magazine quadragénaire, mérite d’être expliquée. Mais d’abord, voici un bref retour sur une année difficile.
Nous n’avons publié qu’un numéro en 2019, ce qui nous place en porte-à-faux avec tous les standards de publication. Notre numérotation (vous tenez entre les mains le numéro 31-1, celui-ci faisant suite à 30-4) suggère que bout voie le jour quatre fois l’an. La pratique de la dernière décennie est plus près de trois. Et le minimum pour être considéré un magazine au Canada, ce sont deux numéros l’an.
What happened? The short answer is that we hit a slippery patch last spring, which threw us off course. The Board was motivated to increase the cadence of production, and we had a good issue lined up discussing the Canada brand. Then, in a dismaying sequence, five features that were being penned failed to materialize, leaving us empty-handed.
As editor of an all-volunteer publication, I have learned that it is unwise to rely on every text you are promised. Still, five out of five? We struggled looking for alternative content, but the magazine’s shelves were bare. Content generation takes time: it needs an idea and an author, giving rise to a text, which is then reviewed and edited, before it is templated and off to print.
A couple of months earlier, before we realized we had a content problem, bout’s managing editor Debra Hulley took extended medical leave. In addition to knowing bout inside out, Debra had an incredible network, through which leads and articles would naturally bubble up. She has not, and likely will not, return to her former position in the PAFSO office.
Hector Mackenzie also withdrew from the board in 2019, after he retired from Global Affairs. A friend of Debra, Hector has written the column From the Archives for longer than I can remember. Our editorial board thus lost two of its pillars, both of whom will be deeply missed.
Spring became summer, and I found myself with much less time to dedicate to the magazine than I had anticipated, which made bouncing back glacially slow. Being away from Ottawa did not help.
bout de papier a une dette immense à l’égard de Debra Hulley. Une dette que même moi, je ne saisis pas complètement. Il y a près de 15 ans que je gravite autour du magazine et il y a plus de 15 ans que ses rédacteurs vouent à Debra un respect sans faille. Le magazine que j’ai repris portait sa marque comme une parentalité. C’est sans doute aussi vrai du bureau de l’APASE, dont elle a été la figure centrale pendant plusieurs années.
Affirmer ceci, ce n’est pas remettre en cause la compétence ou le dévouement des diverses personnes qui aujourd’hui prennent son relai, dans le bureau ou auprès de bout de papier. C’est simplement mesurer sa présence par son absence, évaluer son impact à l’aune de son don et de ce qu’il avait de personnel. Le magazine ne sera pas le même sans elle.
Le changement de garde dans les bureaux de l’APASE s’accompagne de transformations au sein de l’Association. Je me réfère à la création du poste de Président pleinement rémunéré (une initiative pilote sur laquelle la prochaine AGA devra se prononcer) et à la revue stratégique qui en découle. Il convient aussi de saluer le retour de la filière « développement » au sein de l’Association et l’arrivée de ces collègues qui élargissent la famille du Service extérieur.
Ces changements, qui sont en gestation depuis un moment, rendent la réflexion sur l’avenir du magazine non seulement pertinente mais aussi nécessaire. Il faut forger une nouvelle vision commune. Le magazine est interpellé sous trois angles : bout de papier est un outil de rayonnement du Service extérieur, il lie et alimente notre communauté de pratique et, inévitablement, sa publication requiert des ressources humaines et financières. La question maîtresse est de savoir comment s’inscrit bout dans l’APASE renouvelée.
Cette réflexion nous donnera l’opportunité de revoir la mécanique derrière le magazine. Dans le monde dématérialisé post-COVID produire un magazine papier est-il un symbole d’archaïsme ou, au contraire, un facteur de différenciation apprécié? Doit-on choisir tout l’un ou l’autre? Les réponses à ces questions ont des implications importantes sur la production de contenu.
Finalement, il importera aussi de se pencher sur les rôles et responsabilités. Bien que bout de papier ait longtemps opéré comme s’il était une entité distincte de l’exécutif, dans les faits il n’a jamais eu de constitution propre. Sa structure de gouvernance mérite d’être étudiée.
I first approached the magazine holistically when I took over as editor in 2017. Although I had been contributing content for a decade — ferreting out texts, editing some, tentatively inking others — I had never really thought of our four-decade old community publication as an institution. But there it was.
Questions popped. Why was it structured as it was? How did it make ends meet? How did the editor derive authority? As I studied bout’s fragile construction, as something to be preserved, perpetuated, and perhaps fashioned, two risks loomed large among the more benign. One was bout’s historical reliance on Debra Hulley. The other one was its vulnerability to an eventual change of heart of PAFSO’s executive.
I shared these concerns with a few other observers, but I quickly had to park them. The weight of the editor’s main task (guiding content creation) soon caught up to me, and I dedicated myself as best I could to it. Little did I know that both would come to a head in the same year.
PAFSO’s strategic review survey, one of many tools to assess the sustainability of the Associations paid presidency, yielded a tonne of positive feedback for the magazine. Some questioned its relevance or asked for a more regular schedule. Others wished we had gone digital already… yet. But most highlighted the value of the publication.
Over the years, I have heard people articulate vastly different conceptions of bout de papier. This is normal and it is healthy. But it is comforting, as we go through difficult times, to know that members appreciate the work that goes into producing bout. Indeed, comparing these recent results with bout’s own survey of the membership, now five or six years ago, reveals steady support for the publication.
The survey input will inform our future orientation. One cannot presume the conclusions of the working group that will guide the “re-bout”, or the reaction of the Executive Committee when presented with an eventual plan, but the modest reassurance I can give to those who have enjoyed this magazine is that I do not think it faces an existential threat.
My own view has been, and remains, that bout’s purpose is to chronicle the Foreign Service from a practitioner’s perspective. We tell our stories to ourselves, and to those who would listen. What unites us is having undertaken to serve Canada in variable and changing circumstances, abroad when called to do so. The reality of a modern Foreign Service brings glorious moments. It also carries difficult circumstances and personal sacrifices, as the current crisis illustrates.
As for the future, one certainty is that bout needs more engagement by people such as yourselves. Before the decision was made to take a hiatus, I was advocating running a recruitment drive, to bring out writers and editors. There are many who love words among us, whether these are printed on paper, published virtually, or spoken. As a community of practice, we have unique and colourful experiences that bridge the personal and the professional. Together, they tell the story of Canada’s Foreign Service.
Mexico City, April 2020.
As I write this, the world has entered its COVID-induced nightmare. Boris is in intensive care. The presidents of the three largest countries of the American continent have adopted a peculiar brand of optimism, telling their nationals that normalcy will soon return. But understanding and conceptualizing the implications of this crisis will require calmer times. The concept of distance seems likely to evolve, bringing changes to the role and the circumstances of representation abroad.
bout would like to express pride and solidarity with colleagues affected by the crisis. An important contingent of officers and their families are undergoing quarantine in temporary accommodations. Another group of officers remain deployed in challenging circumstances, providing emergency services to stranded Canadians. This crisis, like many other crises, highlights the value of a professional, resilient and adaptive Foreign Service.
Originally published in / Publié à l’origine dans bout de papier, Vol. 31, No. 1 (2020), pp. 2–3. Read the rest of this issue / Lire le reste de ce numéro →
