The Quality of Life Canada Ranks Us Among the Top Countries in the World. But are those things which make the country so uniquely livable -- affordable health care, education, and economic growth -- still thriving? The agenda of the 1997 symposium of the Royal Society proceeds from the question introduced in the 1996 conference 'Can Canada Survive?' also published by the University of Toronto Press. Six papers, given by experts in their respective fields, unflinchingly evaluate the institutions that are responsible for national well-being. They assess the strengths and expose the flaws in the areas of health care, science and technology, education, and the economy. The failure to fund basic medical research at a level commensurate with the research efforts in other G7 countries hampers our health care system and imperils economic growth and job creation. Canadian pupils rank at or above international averages in most categories of science and math, but are underrepresented in the highest levels of achievement. Lagging productivity suggests an urgent need for mechanisms that encourage innovation, adaptation, and personal growth in the work force. Sometimes disturbing, sometimes reassuring, the results of this symposium offer a valuable corrective to the placid, self-congratulatory stance Canadians risk taking in respect to national life.