Twenty years ago, when I joined the Canadian Mathematical Society as a young assistant professor, one of the discussions at the Board of Directors was the creation of a new journal. The Chair of the Publications Committee drafted a brief annual report to discuss the issue with the Board and the directors. It was clear that an immediate decision is not possible and that there are several obstacles to overcome. Almost a decade after, when I became a regular member of the Publications Committee, the topic of a new journal was still being discussed in several committee meetings under the title of “Matters Arising From Previous Meetings”. In 2016, I became the Chair of the Publications Committee and, this time with no surprise, we still assessed the possibility of creating a new journal. My mandate was over and the journal was not created. However, the item appears once again under the celebrated title of “Matters Arising from Previous Meetings”, this time in the Executive Committee Schedule for Spring 2021! Why such a long history? Let us have a friendly account of this phenomenon.

Canada has a great international reputation in numerous branches of mathematics. Due to my personal interests, I am familiar with several research groups in Harmonic Analysis, Operator Theory and Operator Algebras. I have had the privilege to be close friends with colleagues involved in research groups such as Geometry and Topology, Number Theory, Mathematical Physics, Graph Theory and Combinatorics, etc.  One of the earliest ideas was to create a focused journal on one discipline. Even though the idea gained some momentum from time to time, it was never adopted as mainstream in the Publications Committee. There were several reasons for the failure of this approach. First, in most of these areas there are already a couple of reputable journals. Hence, it is rather difficult to introduce a new one. Second, forming such a focused editorial board is not easy. Third, and possibly the most important one, it is uncertain how long an area would be the main research stream. A journal should run for many years to come. An active area of research might lose its importance or, while being still important, be overshadowed by other more active research groups; in either case, it would be extremely difficult to keep the journal alive. When I started my doctoral studies at McGill in the 90s, Montreal was a great centre for classical harmonic analysis. Prominent experts such as K. Gowrisankaran, V. Havin, C. Herz, I. Klemesh, P. Koosis, as well as P. Gauthier with his celebrated Analysis Seminar, had transformed Montreal into the paradise of classical analysis. Montreal continues to be one of the main mathematical centres of Canada with several strong research groups. However, regrettably, its torch of classical analysis is almost extinguished and imagine what would have happened now if the pioneers have had established a focused journal on this topic in 90s. In short, we should not put our eggs in one basket. A general journal is preferable.