Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has insisted that Lake Ontario will retain its name following a decision by US President Donald Trump to rename it America.
Writing on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Carney stated that the name Lake Ontario has been used for more than 400 years. He pointed out that the designation appeared long before the formation of the Canadian Confederation and the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Carney also highlighted broader shifts taking place across the border, noting that trade relations, foreign policy, national monuments, and hydronyms are all changing in the United States. A hydronym is the formal term for a proper name given to a body of water such as a lake, river, or sea.
The Canadian prime minister concluded his statement by saying that Canadians understand that calling things by their true names means calling the body of water Lake Ontario. He added that this has always been the case, remains true today, and will continue to be so in the future.
US renaming proposals
Carney made his comments after Trump previously proposed renaming the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, alongside Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico, which the US president referred to as American.
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, forming a natural border between Canada and the United States. The lake is bounded to the north and west by the Canadian province of Ontario, which shares its name with the lake, and to the south by New York state.
The historical timeline referenced by Carney places the naming of the lake in the early 17th century. By contrast, the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, while the Canadian Confederation was established in 1867.
