Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered a message to U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, revealing a new Lake Ontario sign and saying the lake’s name is “always going to be Lake Ontario.”
The reveal of the sign in Winona, Ont., east of Hamilton, came as the U.S. president maintains his stance that Lake Ontario has been renamed Lake America after he signed an executive order earlier this week.
“President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario,” Ford told reporters. “I received numerous calls from governors, they’re saying we’re always going to call it Lake Ontario, and obviously Canada’s always going to call it Lake Ontario.
“We’re resilient and we’re strong Canadians and we’re always going to protect our sovereignty, always and we’ll never, ever back down.”
Trump signed an order directing the U.S. government to refer to Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes, as “Lake America,” in his latest shot against Canada after trade talks fell apart last week.
He also criticized Canada’s trade policies while speaking in the Oval Office, but insisted he loved the country and that renaming the lake was not about sending a message.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the change on Thursday, saying the name of Lake Ontario would remain “now and always.” Those words also appeared on the sign unveiled Saturday.
Carney also noted in a statement that the name Lake Ontario is more than 400 years old and “comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.’”
Some U.S. politicians and MapQuest criticized and ridiculed the name change, with the mapping company saying it would not change the name on its maps.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, took to social media to post a video of himself at a McDonald’s restaurant signing a fast food napkin to decree Lake Michigan would now be called “Lake Wisconsin.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also posted a photo of Trump Tower in Chicago, with the president’s name crossed out and the name “Natalie” featured, saying it was now called “Natalie Tower.” It appeared to be a reference to Natalie Harp, one of Trump’s closest aides.
The president has not backed down on the renaming, posting multiple images and videos on his Truth Social platform Friday and Saturday. In one such video, AI-generated Canada geese with what resembles Trump’s hairstyle march with weapons while the words “Lake America” appear below them.
Trump’s executive order says the U.S. lays claim to most of the “volume” of Lake Ontario and is mostly responsible for its security, economic activity and environmental stewardship.
The order directs U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to work with the Board on Geographic Names to ensure all U.S. federal government references to Lake Ontario, “including on executive department and agency maps, contracts, and other documents and communications,” reflect Trump’s name change.
Democrats, who are running to take control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, lambasted the move for not addressing Americans’ priorities.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was putting his own grievances first and “Americans last.”
“Inflation increasing. The Iran war raging on with no end in sight. A trade war with Canada. And what does Trump want? To rename Lake Ontario,” he wrote on social media.
–with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and Touria Izri
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