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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Alberta is in a crisis as the province’s oil is being sold at a discount of about $45 a barrel.

Speaking in Calgary as pro-oil protesters shut down part of the city’s downtown, Trudeau says he understands people in Alberta are having a tough time.

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Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the oil price gap is costing the Canadian economy $80 million a day.

The province’s oil is selling much lower than West Texas Intermediate in the United States due to a lack of pipeline capacity to move a growing glut of it to markets.

Trudeau says the federal government is doing what it can to get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion built, which would triple its capacity to carry oil to tankers on the west coast.

Postmedia reporters and photographers are following today’s events live:

Trudeau says his government is also allowing companies to write down capital investments to help the oil patch and he’s meeting with industry officials to see what else Ottawa can do.