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OTTAWA — The government paid ‘sticker price’ for the stalled Trans Mountain pipeline, but an increase in construction costs or continued delays could drive down the final sale price it can fetch for the project, according to a new report by Ottawa’s budget watchdog.

“If it was a car, we’d say they paid sticker price,” Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux told reporters Thursday, adding that if construction delays persist, “then it’s quite clear to us that the government will have overpaid.”

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Ottawa paid $4.4 billion when it took over the pipeline from Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc. in August last year, which had threatened to walk away from the project due to objections from environmental groups and some First Nations. The PBO estimates the project’s true value to be in the $3.6 billion and $4.6 billion range.

“As such, the Government negotiated a purchase price at the higher end of PBO’s valuation range,” according to the report.