Lake America or Lake Ontario?
So, apparently, Lake Ontario is now Lake America—at least if you're looking at Google Maps from the United States.
Here in Canada, however, it remains Lake Ontario. And somehow, I suspect that's not going to change anytime soon.
It's tempting to laugh this off as just another political stunt. And, frankly, there is something slightly theatrical about a president deciding that a lake with more than four centuries of history needs a new name.
But perhaps it's worth looking beyond the joke.
The name Ontario has Indigenous roots and goes back centuries, long before either modern Canada or the United States existed. It isn't a name invented by some recent Canadian government. It is part of the history of the place itself.
So replacing it with “Lake America” isn't really about correcting a geographical error. It's a political statement.
To be fair, there is a legitimate argument behind the American decision. The United States has an enormous relationship with the Great Lakes—economically, environmentally and historically. The Trump administration's broader “America First” philosophy places considerable emphasis on American identity and national symbolism. From that perspective, the renaming is consistent with the administration's worldview.
But there is one small problem: Canada exists on the other side of the lake.
And Canadians have their own history, their own government and, apparently, their own vocabulary.
Nothing prevents Americans from calling it Lake America. Nothing requires Canadians to do the same. So we now have a rather amusing situation in which the same lake can have two names depending on which side of the border you're standing on—or which version of a map you're looking at.
And that brings us to the question: why bother?
Because this probably isn't really about the lake.
It's about identity, politics and power.
A president can change the terminology used by the U.S. government. He can influence American institutions and, to some extent, American public discourse. But he can't issue an executive order telling Canadians what words they should use.
That's where the limits of political power become rather obvious.
There is also an important distinction between this and something like the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea dispute. In that case, the competing terminology is connected to a serious dispute over maritime rights and jurisdiction, and the Philippines' position has substantial grounding in international maritime law and the 2016 arbitration ruling.
Lake America is different. There is no comparable territorial dispute being resolved by changing the name. The lake doesn't become more American because an American map says so.
And that's why the whole thing can feel a little… well, theatrical.
I wouldn't presume to know whether President Trump personally feels slighted by Canada. But the decision certainly looks like a political gesture aimed at asserting American identity—and perhaps at poking the Canadian bear a little while doing it.
The irony is that the gesture may actually strengthen the attachment Canadians have to the old name.
Tell a Canadian that Lake Ontario is now Lake America, and you may discover that Canadians have suddenly developed a very passionate interest in preserving the historical name of a lake they've been taking for granted for generations.
So, will Canadians start calling it Lake America?
Probably not.
Will the lake itself notice?
Definitely not.
After more than 400 years, Lake Ontario will continue sitting exactly where it has always sat—quietly ignoring the politicians on both sides of the border.
Perhaps that's the most Canadian response of all.
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