Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.” Carney said Canadians would continue to refer to the lake by its historical name, Lake Ontario.
In a statement on the X platform, Carney said the name Ontario derives from the Wendat word “Ontari’io.” He said the word means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is large.”
Carney noted that the name Lake Ontario is more than 400 years old, emphasizing that it was used before both Canadian Confederation and the United States Declaration of Independence.
“We know that America is changing. Its trade relations, foreign policies, national monuments and the names of bodies of water are changing. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario—yesterday, today and always.”
Carney's statement came after Trump signed an executive order providing for the renaming of Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” Trump said the change would take effect immediately before signing the order in the Oval Office.
Trade tensions between Canada and the United States
Relations between the two countries became strained after trade negotiations failed to produce an agreement and Washington imposed new tariffs on Canadian goods. Ottawa responded to the tariffs shortly afterward.