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Letters: Pull the plug on Trump's 'Lake America'

Readers outraged by president's name change, CBC's denial that 9/11 was terrorism, persecution of Jewish students at TMU, and more

Name change ‘rightly evoked an emotional response’

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Re: Trump signs executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America — Chris Knight, Aug. 27

Letters: Pull the plug on Trump's 'Lake America' Back to video

President Donald Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America has rightly evoked an emotional response from Canadians. While “Lake America” will likely have the staying power of “Freedom Fries” — coined by Americans in 2003 when France wouldn’t support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq — it is hard to ignore the irony that Canada has been renaming its own streets, towns and geographical features for the past decade. I hope this ordeal illustrates the practical folly of changing well-established names and reboots Canadians’ pride in their history and institutions.

Clint Stibbard, West Vancouver

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For generations, we’ve remembered the names of the Great Lakes by using the acronym HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.

With “Lake America,” we may need a new acronym: SHAME (Superior, Huron, America, Michigan, Erie).

A fitting one, unfortunately, for the state of Canada-U.S. trade talks.

Adina Silberman, Bronx, N.Y.

It could be that renaming Lake Ontario is not merely a joke or another way for President Donald Trump to insult Canada. It could be a sneaky way for him to solve America’s freshwater shortage. Canada needs to fight this name change and ensure that our water rights on the lake (of which we own 53 per cent) are not diminished.

Morton Cohen, Toronto

Donald Trump has now “renamed” both the Gulf of Mexico (“Gulf of America”) and Lake Ontario (“Lake America”).

Both these two pre-Columbian place names are of Indigenous origin. “Mexico” is said to have originated in the ethnonym Mexica, which referred to the Aztecs. As for “Ontario,” it comes from the Wendat word “Oniatarí:io,” which meant “great/beautiful lake” or “lake of shining waters.” The Wendat were displaced by the Iroquois, who retained the name. “America,” on the other hand, is a place name of European origin referring to the explorer Amerigo........

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