A new beginning

With this, his inaugural issue, it is our pleasure to introduce Policy Options‘ new editor, Bruce Wallace.

A veteran of journalism in Canada and abroad, Bruce comes to us from the Los Angeles Times, where he had been a foreign correspondent in Asia and was the paper’s foreign editor from 2008. From vantage points as diverse as Montreal, Ottawa, London, Tokyo and LA, he has covered Canadian politics, wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the transformation of the global economy from the expansion of the European Union to the rise of India and China. From Los Angeles, he helped guide North America’s third-largest metropolitan newspaper through a period of unprecedented competition and upheaval in the news business, brought on by the rise of social media. It is this depth and breadth of experience that made him such a clear choice to lead our flagship publication through the next phase in its development.

In a history that spans more than 30 years, Policy Options has always taken on the personality of its editor. Under Bruce’s leadership, we can expect a renewed commitment to robust and rigorous debates, new and different voices to lead these debates, fresh insights into the policy questions that are always with us, and a window into new public policy challenges. As he foreshadows in this issue, readers should expect the magazine to remain true to its core mission, but also to lead them into unfamiliar territory and surprise them. Policy debates will continue to focus on Canadian priorities and perspectives, but will be anchored in a global context and challenged with views from other parts of the world. In the coming months, Bruce will lead the magazine’s transition from its print focus into a digital home for informed debate.

I would like to thank L. Ian MacDonald, Policy Options‘ editor for the last decade. Like his predecessors, L. Ian’s hard work and dedication helped build PO into what it is today — Canada’s premier public policy magazine. It is that strong foundation that will allow Bruce — and his successors — to continue to build the magazine for many years to come.