Sure. There are two arguments I can raise here. The first one is historical.
If you look at the history of Canada-U.S. relations, that imbalance between the powers of the two countries has existed since the end of the nineteenth century. Canada is still there and still independent. It still has it's own politics and is still different from the U.S. From the historical point of view, we should balance or mitigate that fear of the U.S. The risk to Canadian sovereignty from being close with the U.S. is less important than people usually think.
Second, what is the solution for this? In my view the solution, and again I'm looking at the history of Canada-U.S. relations, is institutions. The more we make clear to the Americans what we want and don't want and the rules between them and us, the better it is. Usually, the record of Canada-U.S. relations within the institutions is quite well.
Sometimes my American colleagues are frustrated, because they are looking at the dynamics of Canada-U.S. relations and saying, "You Canadians are winning much more of the game in the negotiations than we are", which indicates that institutions are protecting Canadian sovereignty or Canadian freedom.