Former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Derek Burney is urging the federal government to take decisive action to reinforce Canada’s economic competitiveness in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential race. In an interview on BNN, Burney said it is paramount for Canada to stake a strong policy stance in the initial stages of the new U.S. regime.

“A prerequisite for any Canadian government has to be to ensure that our competitive position vis-à-vis the United States is preserved by any policy action we take in Canada,” he said on Wednesday.

“If I have a concern, it’s that we’re already diverging on that and if we diverge further, no matter what happens on trade, it will have a [weakening] effect on Canada.”

Burney said his concerns stem from the divergent electoral paths of Canada and the United States in the wake of a Republican sweep south of the border and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals’ rise to power in Canada.

“We’re losing market share in the United States today, and that’s because of actions of our governments going in different directions from those in the United States,” he said.

“We have to be very careful about that.”