Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has pushed back against a directive from US President Donald Trump aimed at renaming Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes that straddle the US-Canada border, as the “Lake of America.” Carney made clear that, regardless of what Washington calls it, Canadians will continue to refer to the body of water by its traditional name.
The move echoes an earlier controversy in which the Trump administration sought to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” a change that sparked criticism from Mexico and confusion among mapmakers and media outlets. Lake Ontario, which borders the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York, has long been recognized internationally by its current name, and any unilateral renaming by one country typically has no legal bearing on how the other nation, or the rest of the world, refers to it.
Carney’s comments reflect a broader pattern of friction between Ottawa and Washington over territorial and symbolic issues, at a time when trade and diplomatic relations between the two neighbors remain closely watched. For Canadians, the lake’s name carries historical and cultural weight tied to the province itself, making the renaming attempt particularly sensitive.
Read the full story at jornada.com.mx.
Image: Jorge Lascar, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).