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Canada’s economy could be in serious trouble if we don’t radically re-evaluate our strengths and priorities, said former TD Bank Group chief executive Ed Clark.

Speaking at The Canada Summit conference hosted by The Economist magazine in Toronto Wednesday, Mr. Clark joked about his gloomy outlook, but said there are opportunities for turning things around. He cited Ontario’s wild swing from surplus to massive deficit over about a decade and the loss of manufacturing jobs to the U.S. as examples to back up his concerns.

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To return to the path to prosperity, Canada needs to stop wasting time worrying about how to get low-wage jobs back from the U.S. or abroad and start thinking about how to use our well-educated population, immigration policies and public health care to our advantage. Trying to win manufacturing jobs by providing subsidies to offset our lack of competitiveness is a loser’s game in the end, he said.