Lake Ontario or Lake America? Doug Ford's shoreline sign escalates US-Canada naming feud

Standing near the shoreline in Grimsby, Ontario, Ford revealed the 24-by-12-foot structure, which reads: "Lake Ontario. Now and Always" in both English and French. The sign also says in French "Lac Ontario - Aujourd'hui et pour toujours."

"I'm here on the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario, a crown jewel of our province and our country," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a short video message posted on X.

Trump first threatened to rename Lake Ontario during an escalating war of words with Ford. The two exchanged insults, with the premier calling the president a bully, among other things, and Trump saying the premier was a "less charismatic, intelligent" version of his late brother, Rob Ford.

It will remain Lake Ontario "now and forever," Ford told reporters Saturday in the small lakeside community on the outskirts of Hamilton.

"President Trump can call it whatever he wants but I can tell you that the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario," he said. "We're resilient and we're strong Canadians."

This comes after President Trump earlier signed an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to update federal maps and databases to call Lake Ontario "Lake America" within the United States.

The move is the latest in an escalating economic and political standoff between the two neighbours. The Trump administration recently imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, prompting Prime Minister Mark Carney to announce retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports. After trade talks broke down, Trump turned to cartographic leverage, citing trade frustrations as the main reason for the name change.

The executive order follows a similar move last year by the administration to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."

While the U.S. executive order applies to American federal mapping agencies, it has no authority over Canadian territory or international hydrographic standards. Canadian leaders across party lines, along with U.S. state officials, have largely dismissed or rejected the change.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back on social media, citing the 400-year-old Indigenous Wendat origin of the name Ontario, meaning "beautiful lake" or "big lake." He noted the name predates both the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Canadian Confederation, saying: "Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario -- then, now and always."

US state officials, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, whose state borders the lake, said they would not adopt the new name, calling the move absurd amid pressing economic and trade concerns for agricultural exporters.

Indigenous leaders, including Wendat Nation Grand Chief Pierre Picard, condemned the renaming as an attempt to erase historical and cultural roots.

Premier Ford said the name change was a reaction to Canada's firm stance in the trade dispute. In a video posted on social media, he said the historical name would outlast the political fight: "Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario." (ANI)