Google Maps has begun displaying "Lake America" for users in the United States, while retaining "Lake Ontario" for users in Canada, a change that has drawn swift and unified opposition from both American Democrats and Canadian officials.
This localized renaming mirrors a similar adjustment made last year for the Gulf of Mexico. The shift for Lake Ontario has prompted U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) to announce plans for the "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act," a bill intended to reverse the perceived order behind the name change. Other Democratic lawmakers are reportedly preparing similar legislative measures to counter the alteration.
Canadian officials have also strongly denounced the move. Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the renaming, stating that Canadians will continue to refer to the body of water as "Lake Ontario—then, now and always." Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a sign overlooking the lake in Winona, Ontario, on Saturday that read "Lake Ontario Now and Always" in both English and French. Ford characterized the name change as "like something out of ‘Saturday Night Live,’" adding that "No one’s going to call it Lake of America. It’s been Lake Ontario for hundreds of years. It’s going to continue being Lake Ontario. It’s just so disappointing."