In this thought-provoking book, D. Paul Schafer makes the case that Canada possesses the potential to play a crucial role in the world. After taking stock of the country's history, geography, and two of its greatest assets-creativity and diversity-he sets his sights on the rapidly-changing global and Canadian landscape. Schafer contends that by applying a cultural and chronological approach to Canadian development and focusing attention on the public sector and the responsibilities of governments and especially the federal government, it will be possible to achieve sustainable development, improve the well-being of Canadians and people in other parts of the world, and realize Wilfrid Laurier's famous prediction that a century will "belong to Canada"--albeit the twenty-first century rather than the twentieth. Schafer ends the book with a rallying cry for all Canadians--"It's time to lead!"