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OTTAWA — The new reality for Canada’s economy could look a lot like the old reality, with a few significant adjustments.

The plunge in oil prices — along with the softer dollar — and the weakened ability of western energy-sector heavyweights to generate government and corporate revenues could level the playing field, or even swing it back in favour of the manufacturing sector in Central Canada, and other traditional hubs.

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“It’s pretty obvious that this will have a significant impact in the oil producing parts of the country,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters this week.

“It’s already had impact on some capital investment plans going forward. The reality [is] that oil price changes have different affects in different parts of the country and different industries,” he said. “[But] as rapid and negative of a change this has been for the industry, the industry — even in my life time — has lived through changes this extreme, and more, on many occasions.”