Canada must be prepared to dig in its heels and push back against American demands during the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Friday.

“We’re not some pushover, little country,” Mulroney said during a speech at the annual Canada 2020 conference in Ottawa on Friday. “We have the strength to say no.”

Mulroney’s government negotiated the original NAFTA trade deal, which is expected to be renegotiated later this summer. He has been advising Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet on the file ever since U.S President Donald Trump indicated he wanted to reopen the NAFTA agreement.

“Listen, we’re going against a giant. This is no piece of cake,” he said. The United States will ensure their most skilled negotiators are at the table, he added.

“The Americans are going to arrive at the NAFTA table with a precise agenda articulated by some tough representatives,” he warned, adding the Canadian team of negotiators will be equally prepared.

Washington triggered a mandatory 90-day consultation period with Congress May 18 on the pending NAFTA renegotiation, which cannot formally begin until after August 16.

Until then, Canada would be best advised to “keep its head down and its mouth shut,” Mulroney said.

“Right now, you prepare best in silence. We shouldn’t be engaged in this back and forth with whomever. We don’t have to do that. We should be getting the best people, putting together the best structure, with the best organization, with the best talent available in Canada,” Mulroney told reporters.

“And, then, when the negotiations begin, then we show off. We put our best foot forward.”

Washington and Mexico have said they want the pending renegotiation completed by early next year, before Mexicans head to the polls for a presidential election.

“Timelines evaporate,” Mulroney told reporters when asked about the proposed timeframe.

NAFTA wasn’t the only trade-related file Mulroney raised in his speech.

The current political climate south of the border is being spurred by fear, he said — including public distrust of free trade because of political messaging from U.S. President Donald Trump and defeated Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, despite the project’s success.

“I just felt that the treatment of international trade was unfair (during the presidential campaign),” he told reporters. “I think there’s apprehension. Change brings apprehension and I think there was a significant amount of that and when they’re trying to get elected both sides, the left and the right, went at it putting the finger on trade as the bad apple. Well, that’s not accurate.

“Trade is the salvation of countries.”

Eduction is key to mitigating those fears, he said. “You have to educate people in the finest sense of that word and stop the language that conveys the impression that every sparrow that falls does so because of a lousy free trade agreement.”

Fear of trade also emerged when NAFTA was first negotiated, the former prime minister recalled. “For some Canadians, any negotiation with the United States on trade could be a prescription for disaster.”

“The politics of free trade were always extremely daunting,” Mulroney told delegates.

Washington must ensure the American economy remains strong in order for the United States to maintain its international role, he said, adding it’s “vital” that the United States remain a global superpower to maintain global peace and security.

The former prime minister also remarked on the importance of the bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States.

Americans, Mulroney said, “should thank their lucky stars” they have Canada as their neighbour.