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Apple has changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on the web version of its Apple Maps, but only for U.S. users of the service.
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The decision by the tech giant took place on Tuesday, the same day John Ternus officially took over as CEO, succeeding Tim Cook, who had led the company for 15 years.
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It follows a move by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, to change the name of the lake on its Google Maps, also for U.S. users.
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“These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now,” Google said in a statement announcing its change. “People using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to rename the lake, which was given its original title, Ontari:io, millennia ago by Indigenous people and means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.” European settlers in the 1600s started using the word, which also became the official name of the adjoining province in 1867.
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In an interview on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria program on Monday, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump had reached out to Apple directly, “so I’m sure that we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America.”
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This comes even as a new poll finds that almost two-thirds of Americans oppose the renaming.
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The Ipsos poll reported that 63 per cent of Americans were against the new name, with only 14 per cent in favour and another 21 per cent unsure. Democrats and independents were most likely to be opposed (84 and 65 per cent respectively) but even among Republican voters, just 33 per cent were in favour and 43 per cent against.
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The Google change caused confusion and consternation in Canada, as maps on sites run by Hydro One, Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario, the LCBO and others all displayed the American name over the weekend.
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However, Ontario government agencies have restored Lake Ontario to their websites, with Metrolinx telling National Post on Monday that “the issue has since been resolved, and our maps once again show Lake Ontario.”
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The international boundary running between the U.S. and Canada means that about 52 per cent of the surface area of Lake Ontario is in Canada, with the remainder in New York State. However, Trump has pointed out that, due to the varying depth of the water, more of Lake Ontario by volume is on the American side.
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The naming issue mirrors that of the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump ordered to be renamed the Gulf of America early last year. Both Google and Apple subsequently revised their map apps to reflect the change for U.S. users.
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New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul responded to Trump’s latest renaming saying that her state would not follow the new naming, adding in a social media post: “An acronym for the Great Lakes used to be HOMES. Thanks to Donald Trump, it’s now SHAME.”
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Trump has posted several AI-generated videos on social media, including a clip of him kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with another that says “Welcome to Lake America.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded by placing a real sign on the shore, declaring the body of water “Lake Ontario now and forever.”