WASHINGTON – Canada’s minister of industry rejected President Donald Trump’s proposal to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America as part of the escalating trade war between the neighboring countries.
"We’ll always call is Lake Ontario. Period," Mélanie Joly, the minister assigned to grow Canada’s economy and spur research, said to applause Aug. 25 in response to a reporter’s question about Trump’s threat.
"We’re proud of our Great Lakes," Joly added about the indigenous name for the lake. "We’ve navigated the St. Lawrence River – the Great Lakes – for thousands of years and it was part of the foundation of our country. We’ll just stand up for what we have."
Trump made the proposal with several social media posts as tensions rise over the collapse
of trade talks with the country’s second-largest trading partner. The move echoed his renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America through a proclamation on the first day of his second term, but didn’t feature a new executive order or proclamation.
Trump remained evasive about whether he was serious, in an interview Aug. 26 with radio host Glenn Beck.
"People thought I was kidding, maybe I wasn't," Trump said.
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes but is a key shipping route to the Atlantic Ocean. The lake runs along western New York state on the U.S. side, with Toronto sitting along its Canadian shore.
The geography dispute is a sideshow to the broader trade dispute. Trump boosted tariffs to 50% on about 5% of imports from Canada after talks collapsed last week. Canada retaliated with "dollar for dollar" tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on $20 billion in U.S. imports.
The spat over the lake’s name played into a question of sovereignty between the two countries.
François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of finance and national revenue, said part of the U.S. trade talks aimed to restrict who Canada is trading with and under what conditions. But he said Canada replied: "No thanks."
"Economic sovereignty is fundamental," he said.
Trump has suggested making Canada the 51st state. But Canadian officials contend their independence is non-negotiable.
"While all of these shenanigans are happening, we’ll just be smart and we’ll be strategic and we’ll fight back," Joly said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canadian official rejects Trump proposal to rename Lake Ontario
