Days after US President signed an executive order on Thursday (local time) directing the US government to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded with a billboard-sized message.
Ford shared a video on his account on Saturday (local time) and wrote, “It’s Lake Ontario, now and always.” Ford, who was seen sporting a Team Canada soccer jersey, unveiled the sign near Grimsby, Ontario, and posed for photographs. According to AP, the 24-by-12-foot (7.3-by-3.6-metre) sign is mounted on 6-foot (1.8-metre) legs, placing its top roughly 18 feet (5.5 metres) above the ground, or about two storeys high. The message also appears in French.
In his video message, Ford said, “You may have heard that President Trump is trying to rename this lake, all because he doesn’t like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves.” He added, “Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario, and long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario.”
Mocking Trump, Ford went on to say, “Just in case President Trump or anyone else forgets, we’ve set up this sign to remind them.”
Why did Trump threaten to rename Lake Ontario?
The latest salvo from the Ontario premier comes amid escalating tensions between the once-long-standing North American allies.
Trump first floated the proposal on 25 August, saying the US was considering renaming Lake Ontario because Washington did not expect to conduct much business with the Canadian province.
The move came after the ‘s previous effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. After returning to the White House for a second term last year, Trump issued an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, directing federal agencies to use the new designation. The US can change the name for its own government use, but it has no authority to require Canada or international bodies to adopt the new name.
Trump suggested that his campaign to rename major bodies of water may not end with Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico.
US-Canada trade war
The tensions between the two sides have also escalated following the collapse of a trade deal and the war of words that ensued. Last week, after Canada backed away from negotiations to finalise a , the US announced 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports worth $20 billion.
After the Trump administration announced the tariffs, Canadian Prime Minister vowed retaliation and said that Canada would retaliate dollar-for-dollar against the new tariffs. Carney also blamed the US for the failed negotiations, calling the proposed terms “unfair.”
In a statement, he said, “I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa.” He further said, “They (negotiators) have worked hard, in good faith, to defend the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations up until the very last minute. However, last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
Ford vs Trump
The trade dispute has also fuelled a war of words between and Trump. Earlier this week, the Ontario Premier told AP that Ronald Reagan would be “throwing up” over Trump’s tariff policies and “disgusted with President Trump.”
Trump slammed Ford and dismissed his comments as “bluster,” called him Carney’s “flunky,” and mocked him as the “less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother” of the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
(with agency inputs)
