United States President Donald Trump’s plan to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America has become a major topic of discussion for Canadians. “This is yet another performative, attention-seeking gesture on the part of Donald Trump,” said Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University. Urbaniak said he does not see what the U.S. President could possibly accomplish with the move, especially when it comes to the ongoing trade war with Canada. “And the more this sort of behaviour continues, the more unified Canadians are and the weaker Americans will be when they come back to the negotiating table,” Urbaniak added. Even furthering that unification, he said, is the response from Prime Minister Mark Carney. The PM’s social media post pointed out the Indigenous origin of the name Lake Ontario, adding that it predates both Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. “I didn’t even know this,” said Mi’kmaq educator Jarvis Googoo. “The lake was not named after the province. It’s vice-versa.” Googoo said all of the talk about this comes with an unintended consequence - one that may not have occurred to Trump. “He got people talking about Indigenous history, Indigenous languages, going towards reconciliation,” Googoo said. “And I’m very certain he didn’t mean that.” Then, there are the memes. One social media post on Friday suggested renaming the Bay of Fundy to “Bay of Donair.” Another floated the idea of calling Cape Breton’s Dominion Beach, “Reserve Mines Beach” going forward. Peace By Chocolate has even come out with a Lake Ontario chocolate bar. Jokes aside, some have wondered whether such a geographical renaming could actually be done. Urbaniak said while Trump’s executive order has some legal effect in the United States, it is not binding on the rest of the world – adding that he has been hearing already that some U.S. states will not recognize it. “The governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul, has already said that they will continue to call Lake Ontario, ‘Lake Ontario,’” Urbaniak said of the state which borders the lake. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
