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Ontario premier answers Trump’s ‘Lake America’ with giant ‘Lake Ontario’ sign
The Seattle Times • • general
Key Points:
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" by unveiling a large sign on the Canadian shoreline affirming the lake's original name in both English and French.
- Canadian leaders and public figures ridiculed Trump’s move, with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew likening it to an aging rock band trying to revive old hits, while historian Robert Bothwell criticized it as an attempt to subordinate Canada.
- The renaming dispute occurs amid worsening U.S.-Canada relations over trade, following the collapse of negotiations and the announcement of retaliatory tariffs by Canada.
- Indigenous leaders condemned Trump’s order as an erasure of Indigenous history, emphasizing the lake’s name originates from the Huron language and predates both Canada and the U.S.
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected Trump’s decree, affirming that the lake’s name is rooted in Indigenous heritage and that the U.S. has no authority to impose such changes on Canada.
