Every July, Canadians pause to ask a quiet question – not the grand patriotic kind, but the honest kind. How are we doing? Not just as a country, but as a people, as a partner, as a presence in the world.

I have been asking that question a lot lately. From Kingston – where I have had the privilege of serving as Canada’s high commissioner for the past 22 months. What I have found, in this corner of the Caribbean, is that the answer is more compelling than I expected.

Canada and Jamaica are both, in their own ways, reinventing themselves right now. And the relationship between us – 60 deep, people-to-people at its core – turns out to be exactly the kind of anchor both countries need.