The controversial Keystone XL pipeline has been dealt a final blow with U.S. President Joe Biden’s confirmed plans to cancel its construction permits, according to one advisor.

“I think Keystone XL is cooked, I think it's done,” James Moore, senior business advisor at Dentons and a former member of the NAFTA Advisory Council, said in an interview on Wednesday.

However, Moore said Biden has a reputation as a "bridge builder" and that the U.S. will try to repair relations with Canada that had become strained under former president Donald Trump.

“I think that his administration does owe Canada, a trusted ally, a lot,” Moore said. “I think we can get greater clarity on Enbridge Line 5. I think we should also get greater clarity on the Trans Mountain pipeline out to the West coast, which of course does dip into Washington state; depending on what precedent may be set by the KXL decision.”

Line 5, a major pipeline project connecting Eastern Canada to Western Canada, has been threatened by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s demand that Enbridge Inc. shut the project down.  

Moore added that there is some potential for policy wins in other sectors that could soften the blow from Biden’s pipeline policies, especially lumber.

“Locking in a good softwood lumber agreement now, that would have, I think, beneficial terms for market access for Canadian lumber into the United States while prices are high... That could be a real win for Canadian lumber producers.”

That said, this day one decision may bruise relations between the two allies and may take some time to fix, according to Moore.

“There is not any single policy that can be achieved by the stroke of a pen by Joe Biden that will offset the immediate hit and consequence that is the cancellation of Keystone.”