Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a sign along the banks of Lake Ontario that reads “Lake Ontario, now and always,” in direct response to President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Great Lake “Lake America.”
The order directs the secretary of the Interior to take steps within the next 30 days to remove all references to Lake Ontario across the U.S. government.
Last week, Trump ordered additional tariffs on Canadian goods. Days later, the Canadian government announced it would match the tariffs “dollar for dollar,” with rates of up to 50%, in response to tariffs imposed by the United States.
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“Well, it's always going to be Lake Ontario now and forever. 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 said.
Ford has long been a vocal critic of Trump. While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has taken a more measured approach to the trade war initiated by Trump, Ford has escalated his rhetoric by suggesting Canada should cut off electricity exports to the U.S.
“We're resilient and we're strong Canadians and we're always going to protect our sovereignty, always. And will never ever back down from a bully ever,” Ford said.
The U.S. and Canada have deeply integrated supply chains, with automobiles and other goods frequently crossing the border multiple times during production.
Ontario is Canada’s most populous province and is home to about 16.1 million people.
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Carney also rejected the move and referenced the historical origin of the name Lake Ontario.
This is not the first time Trump has changed the name of a body of water. Shortly after taking office again in 2025, he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” Some companies, including Google and Apple, updated the name on their maps, though most entities outside the U.S. still refer to it as the Gulf of Mexico.