The sign, bearing the message "Lake Ontario. Now and Forever" in both English and French, measures 7,3 meters long and 3,6 meters wide, mounted on a 1,8-meter-high post.

Premier Doug Ford unveiled this sign in Grimsby, Ontario, on 29/8. This move directly counters President Donald Trump's executive order on 27/8 to rename Lake Ontario, which straddles the US-Canada border, as "Lake America."

Premier Doug Ford (right) unveils the Lake Ontario sign in Grimsby on 29/8. Photo: AP

Ford stated that President Trump was attempting to rename the lake because Ontario and Canada are "standing on their own two feet." He affirmed the name would last longer than the US leader's tenure.

"Long after President Trump leaves office, this place will still be called Lake Ontario," Ford said in a video posted on social media.

Relations between the two North American neighbors have been strained recently after Trump threatened to make Canada the 51st US state and attacked Canadian leaders. Trade negotiations between the US and Canada collapsed at the last minute last week, leading the long-time allies to impose retaliatory tariffs on each other.

In an interview with the AP earlier this week, Ford suggested that the late President Ronald Reagan would certainly not have accepted Trump's tariff policies.

Location of Lake Ontario. Graphic: Britannica

Trump retorted that the Ontario premier's comments were "braggadocious," describing Ford as a "stooge" of Prime Minister Mark Carney. President Trump mocked the Ontario premier on social media as the "less smart, less attractive, less impressive brother" of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

Prime Minister Carney had also previously opposed the US renaming effort, noting that the name Lake Ontario predates both Canada and the US Declaration of Independence.

By Thanh Tam (AP, AFP)