Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canadians know Lake Ontario will always be known by its original name, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to change it to Lake America earlier Thursday.
In a post on social media, Carney says the lake’s name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
He says it’s a Wendat word which means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.”
“Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.”
In the Oval Office, Trump said the order directs Secretary Doug Burgum and the Department of the Interior to update the Geographic Names Information Service, the federal body responsible for naming natural features.
“We filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else. We notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So we’ve done everything, that you have to do, and this is official,” the U.S. president said.
Trump first threatened to rename the body of water during an escalating war of words with Ontario Premier Doug Ford earlier this week.
When asked by reporters in the Oval Office why he was targeting American allies with these types of actions instead of American adversaries, Trump said Canadians haven’t treated the U.S. well.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, whose municipality borders Lake Ontario, responded to the move on X, saying, “Donald Trump’s antics won’t weaken our resolve as Canadians.”
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew joined the debate on Thursday.
“You know when a rock band is really over the hill and you see them in a casino playing some song from like 50 years ago? I think that’s the part of Donald Trump’s presidency we’re at now,” Kinew said at an unrelated event. “He thought he had a real hit, a real golden oldie with the Gulf of Mexico, and he’s trying to bring that back, he’s trying to play the hits for his base but I think everybody here thinks it’s a little sad and it’s not his best work.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a social media response to the White House’s Lake America post that “New York won’t be calling it that.”
The name change is reminiscent of his move last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean so maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific,” Trump said, referring to the bodies of water on either side of the U.S. coastline.
Despite the executive order, the president can’t actually unilaterally rename the bi-national lake as it’s governed jointly by Canada and the U.S.
The name “Lake Ontario” is recognized internationally, appears in federal legislation on both sides of the border, and is embedded in treaties dating back more than a century.
The Province of Ontario was named for the lake when it was created in 1867 at Confederation. The lake’s name predates Canada, predates the United States, and predates European settlement entirely.
This latest tactic from Trump comes amid a busy week of back-and-forth between the two countries after trade talks broke down late Friday and 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian exports went into effect.
Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. of trying to introduce last-minute demands which would limit Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries and protect its culture and sovereignty.
A war of words was also launched Monday after Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Trump to “kiss [his] ass.” Trump, in one of his Truth Social posts, later called Ford a “flunky” and compared him unfavourably to his deceased brother and former Toronto mayor, Rob Ford.
Canada later introduced dollar-for-dollar retailitory tariffs, set to come into effect on Sept. 8.
With files from The Canadian Press
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