bout de papier, Vol. 11, No. 4 / Vol. 12, No. 1 (1995) — Spring 1995 // Printemps 1995, p. 2
Well here it is at last — the special edition of bout de papier on “A Day in the Life of the Foreign Service”. An edition nine months in the making. But wait, this is a double edition: twice the size of our normal 48 page quarterly edition, twice the colour pictures, twice the features, twice the black and white pictures, twice the scandalous scoops but only the same amount of advertising! Our perceptive readers and diligent librarians will see that this edition is both Volume 11, No 4 (Winter) and Volume 12, No 1 (Spring). We are late for the Winter issue but we are on time for the Spring edition.
The edition illustrates what the foreign service does on June 2, 1994: looks after the agendas of five Ministers; manages Canada’s responses to international crises; promotes Canadian trade and investment interests; serves Canadians abroad; selects future Canadians through our immigration programs; and protects Canadian political and economic interests through analysis, negotiation and participation in international meetings. It is of course not a great time to be in the public service of Canada. By the time you read this edition, the consequences of the February 27 federal budget will be coming into force. Despite the wage freezes, despite the public and foreign service bashing, the foreign service of Canada is proud of what it does for Canada, and what it does for Canada is vitally important. It will be easy for our readers to identify the weaknesses in the edition. We do not cover adequately our assistance program, the frustrations and joys of living overseas for Canada, the work of our administrative staff, and we are missing reports from many of our important missions. Some may find the text too dense, too “insider”. As well, we have sliced and diced most contributions so as to print as many as possible. Even so, we could not cover all posts. Our special apologies to Oslo, Cairo, Dar, Atlanta, and Kuala Lumpur which gave us much material which in the end we could not use. Other articles such as those from 2 bout de papier spouses in Asia will run as a separate feature in a subsequent edition. We also apologize to those who will be disappointed not to see their names. We took the decision not to include names, lest the edition look like the Ottawa telephone book. For readers outside the foreign service, the names mean little; for those in the foreign service, it was too easy to lose the drift of a story in the sea of names.
Anyway, here it is — warts and all. I hope it captures well the foreign service both to those who work in the foreign service and to those who are curious about what the foreign service does. I’d like to say the blame falls somewhere else if you think the edition does not live up to your expectations, but I guess I cannot. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I have to, cry if I have to. You would too if it happened to you. (Apologies to Leslie Gore, in this case).
A final word of thanks goes to those who played a key role in putting out the edition. Laurel Pardy, the special editor, played a large role in the design, editing and format of the edition; Debra Hulley, the managing editor of bout, played her normal critical role in the design, layout, timing and financing of the edition; Sarah Deschamps of Acart Graphics, our designer for this special issue; Colin Robertson, former editor, offered a sharp critical eye and moral and logistic support to many rewrites; David Edwards for taking the pictures in the Ottawa day; Nancy Loten for much of the typing and critical observations; and Douglas Small for advice and counsel on the contents and design. I would also thank my wife, Kris, and my two girls, Kiera and Annie, who tolerated the many weekends I spent on this thing, thus forsaking my usual starring role as Scar in the many theatrical renditions of the Lion King at my house.
Now, on to June 2, “A Day in the Life of the Foreign Service”. As they say down south, “Have a nice day!”
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 11, No. 4 / Vol. 12, No. 1 (1995) — Spring 1995 // Printemps 1995, p. 2. Read the rest of this issue →
