US President Donald Trump has ordered that Lake Ontario be referred to as “Lake America” in the United States, adding another point of tension to his increasingly strained relationship with Canada.Trump signed an executive order on Thursday changing the lake’s name for the US geographic naming service. The decision applies to how the body of water is officially identified by US authorities, but Trump has no power to make Canada adopt the new name.The move follows Trump’s earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” for use by the US government.Trump signed the order at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. A map of the Great Lakes was displayed behind him, with the words “Lake America” written in large red letters over Lake Ontario.Speaking to reporters, Trump criticised Canada over trade and said, “They feel entitled and we can’t have that,” while describing the country as “the worst” to deal with on trade.
US-Canada trade tensions
The announcement comes amid another escalation in the US-Canada trade dispute. The US recently announced 50 per cent tariffs on USD 20 billion worth of Canadian goods after trade talks between the two countries broke down.Trump has repeatedly criticised Canada since returning to the White House last year. He has also suggested that Canada should become the 51st US state, despite the two countries being long-standing allies.
Why Lake Ontario matters
Lake Ontario is one of the Great Lakes shared by the US and Canada. The international border runs through the lake, with New York State to its south and the Canadian province of Ontario to its north. The lake separates the US city of Buffalo from Toronto, Canada’s largest city.Ontario is Canada’s most populous province and is also the biggest export market for more than a dozen US states.The name Ontario has Indigenous origins. It comes from a word used by the Huron people, “oniatarí,” meaning “lake of shining waters”. The lake’s name existed before European settlement, and the province later took its name from the body of water.There is no single international organisation with universal authority to decide the names of international bodies of water. The International Hydrographic Organization, whose members include the US and Canada, helps ensure that seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted consistently and is responsible for naming some waterways.
