(LifeSiteNews) — On August 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. government to refer, henceforth, to Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” Google Maps promptly obeyed; Americans now see “Lake America” and Canadians “Lake Ontario”; the Geographic Names Information System, the official U.S. repository of geographic names, also registered the update.
Trump’s move came in the wake of the collapse of U.S.-Canadian trade talks and features his signature childish style of revenge, a trollish pettiness that can be humorous in a commentator but embarrassing in a leader of the free world. But as many commenters were swift to point out, it wasn’t Trump who started the name-changing trend.
Ironically, liberal comedian Bill Maher — who loathes Trump — was one of the first to point this out. “Trump is so mad at Canada he renamed Lake Ontario, Lake America,” he told his audience last week. “Now I gotta buy a new globe, again! It’s like the fifth time it’s happened. Liberals are very pissed at this, they say you can’t just go around renaming things to suit your political agenda. Just ask any LatinX birthing person.”
Liberals are so mad at President Trump for renaming Lake Ontario. You can’t just go around renaming things for your political whim. Just ask any birthing person. 👇 pic.twitter.com/7MsNwQoyiA
— John-Henry Westen (@JhWesten) August 29, 2026
Maher has a point — and he wasn’t the only one to make it.
Canadian commentators noted that progressives have been engaged in a similar project for several years now. Toronto’s Dundas Square, for example, was renamed Sankofa Square in 2025, “Sankofa” being a Ghanaian term referring to reclaiming past teachings to move forward. Henry Dundas, a British parliamentarian, was deemed insufficiently enthusiastic of abolition by progressives, and thus his name was exchanged with a Ghanaian term (ironically, representing a culture that trafficked in slaves).
Then there was the renaming of Trutch Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, named for BC’s first lieutenant governor Joseph Trutch. Trutch was deemed unacceptable due to his ideas about indigenous people, and so in 2025, the street was renamed šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street. (In case you’re wondering, yes — they did put that name on street signs.) The city stated in its official release that Trutch had to be removed because he “is recognized for his deeply racist views.”
There was a Trutch Street in Victoria, too — that was changed in 2022 to Su’it Street. Vancouver’s Sir Matthew Begbie Elementary School became wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm Elementary. Winnipeg, for its part, has sought to purge the name of Bishop Grandin. Bishop Grandin Boulevard was changed to Abinojii Mikanah in 2024; Bishop Grandin Trail was changed to Awasisak Mēskanôw; Grandin Street became Taapweewin Way.
Changes have also come to Canada’s capital. In 2023, the National Capital Commission voted to change the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway to Kichi Zībī Mīkan, an Algonquin term meaning “road” or “path” (not that anyone knows that). The stated reason, of course, is that Canada’s first prime minister — and the man most singly responsible for the creation and survival of Canada as a nation — was a hopeless racist. (This is a libelous interpretation of a great man’s views, but that’s a subject for another day.)
There was a John A. Macdonald Road in Saskatoon, too. It is now miyo-wâhkôhtowin Road.
Like Maher, I am not defending Trump’s name change. But the self-righteous indignation of progressives displays a chutzpah that is characteristic of iconoclasts. If the name “Ontario” didn’t have indigenous roots, we might have already changed the name ourselves. It was initially an Iroquois term. Incidentally, the Iroquois kept slaves. Perhaps we should demand that Lake Ontario be changed to Lake Wilberforce, to recognize the uniquely Christian character of the abolitionist movement that changed the Western world.
