Cassandra,

You are surely correct that Canadians don't want our leaders seeking gratuitous confrontations or strident stands.

On the other hand, they do expect their Government to calmly and resolutely stand up for basic Canadian interests in a reasonable manner if the US makes unreasonable demands of us.  They also realize that standing up to the US in these circumstances might lead to a breakdown in negotiations and an unwanted trade war but hopefully, most of us realize that we must face that possibility in a united way because the consequences would be much worse if we show either craven weakness or hollow bravado.

There are no easy, risk free solutions.