Ontario Premier Doug Ford has erected a large sign declaring “Lake Ontario – Now and Always” after Donald Trump ordered the Canadian-American body of water to be renamed “Lake America”.
The blue sign was unveiled on Saturday at Fifty Point Conservation Area in Grimsby, near Hamilton, on the Canadian shore. It carries the same message in French: “Lac Ontario – Aujourd’hui et pour toujours”.
In a video posted on social media, Mr Ford described the lake as “a crown jewel of our province and our country” and accused Mr Trump of targeting Canada because Ontario had resisted pressure from Washington.
“Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario, and long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,” he said.
The US president signed the executive order on Thursday, directing the Interior Department and the US Board on Geographic Names to update the name in federal records within 30 days.
The order says the body of water is an important part of the United States’ history and economy, citing its role in trade, settlement, military logistics and shipping. It also claims that the US has made a greater contribution than Canada to protecting the Great Lakes, including through investment in the freshwater ecosystem and the provision of ice-breaking vessels.
The change would apply to US federal maps, documents, contracts and other official communications. It does not determine what the lake is called by the Canadian authorities or by the public in Ontario.
The lake borders New York State to the south and east, and Ontario to the north, west and south-west. Toronto lies on its northern shore.
The dispute comes as relations between Ottawa and Washington deteriorate over trade. Following unsuccessful talks, the US has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods and announced further tariffs on Canadian vehicles and steel imports from January.
Canada has responded with retaliatory measures worth up to 50 per cent on about 20 billion US dollars (£15 billion) of American imports.
Mr Ford said the sign had been installed to make clear that the Canadian province would continue using the traditional name.
The Seneca Nation, an Indigenous nation based in New York State, has also called for the order to be withdrawn. Its president, J Conrad Seneca, said the decision showed “blatant disrespect” towards the Indigenous people whose language gave the lake its name.
He argued that the order breached a treaty more than 225 years old and said the name should be preserved as a reminder of the communities that lived around the lake before the United States and Canada were created.
Ontario’s name comes from the Iroquoian term “oniatarí:io”, commonly translated as “lake of shining waters”. The name has been used for the lake for centuries, predating both Canadian Confederation and the founding of the modern United States.
Mr Trump’s order follows his previous efforts to change the official US name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and to restore the name Mount McKinley for Alaska’s Denali.
