Our Man in Bhutan

Of Bhutan’s history, its recent emergence from seclusion, its international relations and its economic, social and political model, I knew next to nothing at the time of my appointment as non-resident ambassador of Canada to the government in Thimphu, its tiny, scenic capital. Of the country’s connections with Canada, I knew even less. Imagine my surprise when, on my first visit, in October 2006, I found Canada tripping off many tongues, nearly always in relation to one Father William J. Mackey, S.J., a national icon in this small, reserved and proud mountain kingdom. Who was Bill Mackey and how did he rise to such prominence in so distant a place? ((A highly-regarded biography of Father Mackey, The Jesuit and the Dragon, written by Howard M. Solverson, was published by Mulitmedia Robert Davies in paperback in 1997. ))

Some months after that first visit to Bhutan, I landed at Bagdogra, in India’s vast Gangetic plain just south of the Himalayan foothills...