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Ford’s “Lake Ontario” Reply
Ontario Premier Doug Ford answered President Donald Trump’s executive order directing U.S. federal agencies to call Lake Ontario “Lake America” by unveiling a billboard-sized sign reading “Lake Ontario. Now and Always” near Grimsby, Ontario on Saturday.
“Ford unveiled the sign near Grimsby, Ontario”
The Associated Press reported the sign measures 24-by-12-foot (7.3-by-3.6 meter) and stands on 6-foot (1.8-meter) legs, with its top about 18 feet (5.5 meters) above the ground, roughly two stories high.
Ford said in a video posted on social media, “Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,” as he wore a Team Canada soccer jersey for photographs.
The dispute is playing out alongside trade tensions after negotiations collapsed last week, with Canada announcing retaliatory tariffs set to take effect next month.
In the same AP account, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew compared Trump to an aging rock band trying to revive an old hit, saying, “I think that’s the part of Donald Trump’s presidency we’re at now.”
Indigenous Pushback and Quotes
The CBS News account said Ford’s sign, also repeated in French as “Lac Ontario - Aujourd'hui et pour toujours,” was located at Fifty Point Conservation Area in Hamilton, Ontario, as he criticized Trump for renaming the lake “all because he doesn't like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves.”
CBS News also reported Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca called the executive order a violation of a more than 225-year-old treaty and said it showed a “blatant disrespect” for the Indigenous people who gave it its name in the first place.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca said in a statement, “The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action,” as he urged the order be rescinded.
Time Magazine reported Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the name is “more than 400 years old, pre-dating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” and rejected Trump’s directive.
Time Magazine added that the order applies to U.S. federal references of the lake and does not determine how Canada—or others—refer to the body of water.
Trade War Stakes and Retaliation
Scripps News said Trump’s executive 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, while the dispute is unfolding during a trade war with Canada.
“within the next 30 days to remove all references to Lake Ontario”
Scripps News reported that after Trump ordered additional tariffs on Canadian goods, 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.
The Associated Press said the reaction in Canada has mixed defiance with mockery, and it described Canadian historian Robert Bothwell asking, “The greatest country on earth takes this moron seriously?”
Al Jazeera reported that Vermont Governor Phil Scott called the move “petty and disappointing,” and said several politicians urged Trump to return to the negotiating table rather than antagonise Canada.
In the same Al Jazeera account, Ford said the sign was erected to reaffirm the Great Lake’s name “in case President Trump — or anyone else — forgets,” as Canada and the U.S. remained locked in a spiralling trade war.