Canadians and some Americans are livid that US President Donald Trump has ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed Lake America. But some mapping companies have already made the change, and at least one news outlet is suggesting Trump could sanction countries that don’t alter the name.
Trump, who has been lashing out at Canada since being elected again in November of 2024, last week issued an executive order changing the name of the lake, which is jointly shared by the US and Canada.
Trump on the weekend posted an AI-generated video of him placing a “Lake America” sign on the shores of a body of water. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in turn, unveiled a large “Lake Ontario” sign on the shores of the lake near Niagara Falls.
Prime Minister Mark Carney last week said the name of the lake has been Ontario “then, now and always.”
Musicians and other artists also have weighed in. Canadian band Blue Rodeo played its annual summer concert at the RBC Stage at Ontario Place on 29AUG and made a point of highlighting the change before playing its popular song, “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet,” which features the line “out in the middle of Lake Ontario.”
The crowd, which included your Open Jaw correspondent, went wild and screamed out the words “Lake Ontario” as the band played. I posted a partial video of the song on my Twitter/X feed shortly after the show (sorry about the typos, but I was walking out of the amphitheatre as I typed). As of Monday morning, it had more than 41,000 views.
Asked last week about the Lake America name, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul replied, “New York won’t be calling it that.”
Hochul criticized the president in an interview with NY1.
“I’m speechless. It is so patently absurd,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move “juvenile,” and said Trump’s trade policies would hurt New York residents.
Stunning water colours in Lake Ontario in Mississauga. JIM BYERS PHOTO
SOWING CONFUSION
Google said the Ontario/America change would only affect US users, but the CBC says a number of websites for Ontario and Canadian entities appeared to display Lake America on maps. Among them were Hydro One’s outage map, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s (LCBO’s) store locator, GO Transit’s station finder and the federal government’s housing and infrastructure map.
MapQuest, a US online mapping service, said on X/Twitter that would not change the lake’s name. Apple has not publicly commented on the matter, but it appears they may be altering their maps to read “Lake America.”
“The president reached out to Apple directly, so I’m sure that we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America,” US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said today (31AUG) in an interview on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” program.
Trump has been publicly angry at Canada for a year and-a-half. The Trump administration and the government of Canada 10 days ago were in talks to sign a deal that would end the current tariff war between the two countries. But the talks broke down after the US was said to have asked for language that Carney said would infringe on Canada’s sovereignty.
Ford lashed out at Trump, saying the president could kiss his behind. Trump shortly thereafter said he was changing the name of Lake Ontario, which is an indigenous word that most experts say means “shining water.” The word has appeared on maps for centuries, and the province of Ontario was named for the lake.
Although some media reports stated that Trump has already renamed Lake Ontario, PBS notes that the presidential order doesn’t quite do that.
“Rather, it directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to change the lake’s name for official federal government purposes within 30 days of the order.The President lacks unilateral authority to change the names of bodies of water or other geographic features. Rather, Congress delegated that power to the Secretary and the BGN.”
Ashbridge’s Bay is a wonderful park on the shores of Lake Ontario, just a short ride or drive from downtown Toronto. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The PBS story also suggests the US could sanction countries that don’t go along with the alteration.
“Though the Board on Geographic Names has changed the name to Gulf of America on official US maps, and even if it approves the name change of Lake Ontario, there is no international board in charge of place names. Each country decides what to call places. And there is no official way for the US to make other countries change the names on their maps.
“t’s possible, however, that the US could formally ask other countries to change a name or even impose sanctions against countries that don’t comply.”
A story by Cornell University Law Professor Michael C. Dorf on the website Justia states that U.S. law requires that geographic names “serve the interests of the Federal Government and the general public” and directs the BGN to “give full consideration to the specific interests of particular Federal and State agencies.”
The board ,which is made up of federal appointees who serve two-year terms, endorsed Trump’s executive order for the Gulf of America and is widely expected to bow to pressure from above and do the same with Lake Ontario.
But Dorf notes that the State of New York has said it wants the name Lake Ontario to stay in place. He also says there are many companies in the state with Lake Ontario in their name, including Lake Ontario Fruit and Lake Ontario Realty, and that they would be impacted by the change.
It’s not uncommon for governments to change place names. The city of Toronto a few years ago renamed Dundas Square to Sankofa Square due to concerns that Henry Dundas didn’t do enough to fight slavery. President Barack Obama, responding to a 40-year fight by Alaska natives to rename Mt. McKinley, changed the mountain’s name to Denali.
But those name changes were for geographic entities entirely within a country’s borders.
Trump in January, 2025 took things to another level by issuing an executive order that officially changed the name “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America.” US authorities are bound to his executive orders and have renamed the gulf on US maps.
Some companies now use Gulf of America on their maps. Others don’t. Google Maps in Canada reads “Gulf of Mexico” but with “Gulf of America” below it in parentheses.
A beach on the Toronto Islands on Lake Ontario. JIM BYERS PHOTO
A RIDICULOUS MOVE BY TRUMP
I generally try to avoid politics in this space. But I agree with the US Senate Minority Leader, who called Trump’s move “juvenile.”
It’s the act of a petulant president, not something that was thought out or reasoned, or that anyone on the planet was asking for.
I will certainly not use the name “Lake America.” In this space, it will always be “Lake Ontario.” And the Gulf of Mexico will always be just that.
Will my position make a difference? Of course not. But in situations like this I sometimes think of one of my favourite episodes of the M*A*S*H television show, in which Hawkeye and BJ (I believe) ground a helicopter pilot who is endangering the lives of children by purchasing war souvenirs from them, including items they have found by scouring active mine fields.
The pilot tells Hawkeye and BJ his grounding move is useless and says something like, “Do you think you can change the world?”
Hawkeye calmly replies, “No, just our little corner of it.”
That’s how I feel about the Lake Ontario situation, and about many things in life. I can’t change the world, but I can change my little corner.
